Kazumi's Tale
by DaggersOfEmotion
Summary: Kazumi has spent her whole life on Air Temple Island, but when Korra comes into her life her world turns upside down. She quickly learns that life is never boring when you're friends with the avatar, nor is it easy. Kazumi and Korra break boundaries and set off on adventures in Republic City, meeting new people along the way- some become enemies, some friends, and some more.
1. Welcome To Republic City

**WELCOME TO REPUBLIC CITY:**

I slipped on my golden headband to hold my hair out of my face before taking a running leap toward the edge of the island. I whistled my four-note tune and projected myself over the edge. Just before hitting the water, a giant fluffy white creature with brown arrows on all its limbs swept under me, taking me on a smooth flight just above the surface of Yue Lake. Before we got too far, she dove deep into the water. I held my breath and dug my hands into her fur, gripping tighter as the water grew darker. Then, just as we reached the bottom and my ears began to scream, she kicked off the bottom and shot toward the surface. I screamed with glee as we passed the surface and were welcomed by strong, yet gentle, winds.

"Great ride, Aika," I pet her affectionately as she flew to the surface of the bay with ease. I formed two fists and locked them against each other, causing a great swirl of air to wrap around me and dry me off. I jumped at a tree branch and snagged an apple, which I then gave to Aika, who appreciated it and licked me after.

I made a sort of rolling sound in the back of my throat, my signature call for my flying lemur, Lychee. It wasn't long before he came swooping down onto my shoulder. I offered him an apple, too, which he accepted and ate.

The sun was beginning to rise, which meant we were leaving soon. I picked up Lychee from my shoulder and set him down on a branch. He cocked his head to the side, confused as to why I didn't want him with me.

"You have to stay here, Lychee. It's too cold for you at the South Pole," I reasoned, scratching him behind the ear. I leapt onto Aika and hurried back to the temple to find my family waiting patiently for me on top of Oogi.

"I want to ride with Zumi!" Meelo jumped up and down, climbing on Tenzin and pulling his beard. "Zumi! Zumi! Zumi!"

"Do you mind, Kazumi?" he asked, his eyes begging me.

"It's fine with me," I said, Aika stopping to rest next to Oogi.

"Yeah!" Meelo cheered and flipped into the air, landing on Aika's saddle.

"I want to go too! _Please,_ daddy?" Ikki begged. Tenzin sighed and gave me a _thank you_ look as she jumped over as well. I smiled, knowing that he, Pema, and Jinora would have a relaxing trip. I didn't mind watching them, so long as it's helping them out.

The trip took all day, and we didn't stop anywhere along the way. Tenzin made it very clear that the trip had to be as timely as possible, because getting back to his responsibilities, as a counsel member, was a priority. Meelo spent much of the time sitting on my shoulders and playing with my hair while Ikki repeatedly asked if we were there yet.

"The colder you get, the closer we become, Ikki"

"But you're supposed to get warmer when you get closer!"

"Not if you're going to the South Pole"

"Are we here, yet? Are we here yet?" Ikki repeated, in spite of my attempts to calm her. Not that it surprised me.

"Yes, we're here," I finally announced.

"Yay!" she cheered. We had arrived a few minutes before the others, so we were welcomed first. Aika took us down into the inner walls of the Southern Tribe.

"Gran-gran!" I grinned as I slid off of Aika's tail and into my grandmother's arms.

"Kazumi," she smiled warmly, embracing me. "So good to see you! And you must be Meelo," she said, lifting him from on top of me.

"Unhand me, strange woman!" he demanded, wriggling in her grasp. She laughed and let him go, setting him loose on Ikki, who ran screaming as he tried to catch her.

"I have so much to tell you, Gran-gran. I can't wait to—" I stopped when I realized that a girl was standing behind her expectantly. "Are you…"

"You're an airbender!" she said, rushing forward.

"Sure am! My name is Kazumi"

"I thought airbenders had tattoos"

"Only once they've mastered the element completely. I'm not quite there, yet," I grinned sheepishly. "Not that I'm rushing it— it involves shaving my head, so…"

"Tenzin?" Korra said, distracted by the arrival of my father. I stepped aside, anticipating her movements.

"Meelo, that is not a toilet!" I shouted, running to catch my brother.

/

"So… how long until you can teach me airbending?" Korra asked eagerly. "A week? A Month?"

"It could be much longer than that, I'm afraid"

"Then I'll come with you!"

"It's not the right time, Korra. The city is not safe for you"

"I could stay, father. I may not be a master, but I can teach her what I know," I offered.

"That's a lovely idea," Gran-gran suggested, basically sealing the deal.

"Alright," Tenzin sighed. I turned to Korra to see her beaming at me.

"So when do we start?"

/

The air was biting cold, but with the right mindset, it only felt like a chill nipping at my skin, not a piercing arctic freeze. The snow was packed from footsteps, but still had a fresh layer of snow so that it was not yet slippery. Perfect for a place to start our training.

"So what do you know already?" I asked.

"Nothing, really. I know that Aang was an airbender"

"Okay, that's good," I said, although I sensed that this was going to be a long day. "Well, from what your other teachers have told me, you seem to be skilled in the physical part of bending, but struggle with your spiritual side. We're going to have to focus on that before we can get to actual bending"

"Awww," she moaned.

"Airbending is the element of freedom and peace. We learned our bending from the sky bison, the original airbenders. It is because we sought out spiritual enlightenment that we were gifted with the skill of airbending. This is why we're going to start with meditating"

"Meditating?"

"Yes"

I sat down and took deep breaths, closing my eyes and letting all of my anxiety flow out of me. Soon my muscles were relaxed and I felt as if I were floating on water. The air around me stopped feeling cold— it felt as if it were completely at balance with my body.

"Uh… Kazumi?" I peeked out of one eye to see Korra struggling to even cross her legs. "I don't think I'm doing this right"

I took a deep breath and let it out, the airflow pushing me up from the ground until I was on my feet.

"Can't you show me some airbending instead?"

"Alright, but then we meditate," I bargained, reaching my hand out to help her out of her awkward position.

"The key to airbending is to be flexible and find the path of least resistance."

"Least resistance— got it."

"Hit me."

"What?"

"Try to touch me"

"Okay," she said, hesitantly reaching toward me. I slid my heel and turned my body, her hand missing me by multiple inches. She gathered herself and took a swing at me, but I continued to evade her attacks, as they grew more frequent and powerful. Finally, she sent a blast of fire at me out of frustration, forcing me to finally use my bending to evade her attack. I leapt into the air and cartwheeled over her, landing lightly on my feet behind her.

She turned to look at me and I just smiled sweetly. "Do you want to try again, or do you give up?"

"I never give up"

/

Days had passed since Tenzin left and Korra had made little progress. All she ever wanted to do was fight. I told her that she couldn't just skip to bending— that she has to be patient and earn her way to it— but she won't accept it. I had managed to teach her to meditate, although she had little patience for it. I just don't think being cooped up here is going to help her.

"How about we take a day off," I suggested.

"What? But I thought you were going to teach me some more moves"

"I will, but I think we need a break."

"We could go run the obstacle course, or we could… explore," she said with a glint in excitement in her eye.

"Why don't we go exploring? I'd love to see more of the South Pole"

She broke into a devilish grin and let out a whistle, her polar bear dog leaping into the scene and pounding her way over to us with her big white paws.

"Let's go for a ride, Naga," Korra said and hopped onto her back. I leapt into the air and landed softly behind her, grasping her fur to secure myself, although I quickly found out that holding Naga's fur was not going to help. As soon as she began running, I felt my fingers sliding from their grip on her short white fur. She was nothing like Aika, who was graceful in her movements and had long soft fur to hold onto, but made rough movements and had short slick fur that was hard to hold onto.

But then I got used to the movements and relished in the rush of wind in my face. Now that I had a feel for it, I let go of Naga's fur and raised my arms into the air, the wind deafening, but my scream still audible enough for Korra to turn her head and smile back at me. To my dismay, Naga slowed to a stop, the adrenaline rush fading.

"That's why I like to fight— it feels like that. It's _my_ freedom."

"We should head back, but I'd love to try out that obstacle course"

I was pleased with the thrill the ride back gave me— it was just as great as it had been on the way there. Better, even.

Korra jumped onto the hanging web of ropes and began to run the course. I followed, having fun with the concept of a fully physical course without bending.

"This is fun!"

"I run it every day," Korra said, climbing a rope before jumping onto a tower.

"You should see the stuff we have on Air Temple Island. It's all for bending training, but there's still plenty to do otherwise."

"What's one of them?"

"Well, I like to take a running leap off of the edge of the island and have Aika catch me. Then we dive to the bottom of Yue Lake and burst up to the surface as fast as we can and keep going up into the sky until we're in the clouds"

"That sounds like a rush!"

"Well, I've got to do something on that island all day"

"What about Republic City?"

"Dad doesn't really like me going there— he says it's not safe for me"

"And you've never snuck out? It can't be hard, just fly over when he's at a council meeting or at night"

"But what if I got caught? Or something happened?"

"No one would be able to catch you, you're too evasive. Not to mention _fast_"

I laughed, "yeah, that's how I got my nickname Zumi, because I'm zoomy."

"My name's too short for a nickname"

"It's not too short, Kor…. Ra…" I tried to figure out a good nickname, but there really was nothing to work with. "How about Hothead?"

She laughed, "Alright, but only if I can call you Twinkle-toes"

"Only on special occasions"

"Deal"

/

That night, I stirred in my sleep, not because it was too cold—although I will admit, I did not come dressed for the weather— but because the door was wide open. I noticed Korra's absence immediately and hopped to my feet, running outside to find her disappearing into where Naga was kept.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" I said, standing in the doorway.

"I have to— my destiny is in Republic City, I just know it. I can't stay here forever, I need to experience new things, live on Air Temple Island and learn bending in that environment. I'm glad you stayed here to help me, but I feel trapped here, and how am I supposed to master the element of freedom when I'm being held captive?"

It was hard to argue with her.

"Alright, but how do you plan on getting there? Naga can't possibly swim the whole way and Aika can't carry her"

"I'm going to catch the next ship out of here, it should be leaving soon."

"Alright. I guess I'll fly on Aika and meet you there. I'll wait until the ship leaves before telling Gran-gran so she doesn't worry"

"Thank you, Kazumi"

"That's Twinkle-toes to you, Hothead"

I waited until the ship had disappeared on the horizon, the sun lighting up the rim of the sea and warming the sky. I sighed, knowing that letting Korra leave might get me in trouble with the Order of the White Lotus, not to mention Tenzin. I stood up, brushing the snow off of my cold bare legs and jumped down off of Gran-gran's roof, only to find her waiting for me.

"Gran-gran, I—"

"Korra left," she said bluntly.

"Yeah, how did you—"

"It's not hard to guess what Korra's going to do. She doesn't hide it well"

"I know dad doesn't want Korra to go, but she needs to in order to master airbending. We were barely making progress while we were training here. She's ready to move on, to understand freedom and have a taste of what it's like to be an airbender"

"It's alright, I understand"

"You're not mad?"

"Of course not, you have my blessing. I would, however, suggest leaving now before the others wake up, for they will not be as supportive"

"Right," I nodded and gave her a hug. "I'll see you later, Gran-gran"

"Keep an eye on that girl for me, she's got an eye for trouble"

"I will, promise!"

/

When I arrived back home, I left Aika out by the bay and went inside to get some food after my long journey.

"Kazumi! You're back!" Ikki cheered, hopping on an air scooter and zooming over to me.

"Hey, Ikki," I said and hugged her. It wasn't long before Meelo and Jinora came running to the scene.

"We didn't expect you back so soon, it's only been a few weeks," Jinora asked.

"Well, we weren't really making much progress there," I looked out at the water, searching for the ship. There was one leaving the harbor— it was worth checking out. "I have to go, but I'll be back soon!"

"Where are you going?" she asked as I raised my arm, my glider flying into my hand.

"I'll be back soon!" I said and leapt into the air, flying toward the city. _Please don't be in trouble_.

It wasn't hard to find Korra— unfortunately; it was because she had gotten herself into trouble and was being carried in the air by the law enforcements. I changed my course and went to get my father from city hall. I grimaced, knowing I was going to be in big trouble, myself.

"Dad!" I said, bursting into his office. Thankfully, he wasn't in a meeting at the moment. "Korra's in trouble"

"What?" he stood from his seat, his chair almost tipping over. "What happened?"

"She was arrested— taken away by metalbenders"

Needless to say, we rushed over to headquarters where she was being detained. Tenzin demanded to see Korra straight away, and we were down a hall with metal walls that opened and closed intricately.

"Chief, Councilman Tenzin and his daughter are here," the officer said through the wall.

"Send them in," a strong voice ordered.

I followed Tenzin inside the room, immediately locking eyes with the woman across the table from Korra. Her intense green eyes held my gaze until Tenzin spoke.

"Lin, you're looking radiant as—"

"Cut the crap, Tenzin. What's the avatar doing wrecking havoc in my city?" she did not sound pleased.

"I'm asking myself the same question," he said, sending a quick glare at me. I looked away and instead focused on my flats, the red ribbons extending from my feet up my leg in a cross-wrap. Although I didn't appear to be paying attention, my ears were alert.

"If you would be so kind as to drop the charges against Korra, I will take full responsibility for today's regrettable events and cover all the damages."

Pondering his proposal, she looked from me, to him, to Korra, finally sighing and raising her hand, releasing Korra's handcuffs.

"Fine, just get them out of my city"

"Always a pleasure, Lin. Let's go, Kazumi," he said and turned to walk out, "Hurry up, Korra"

I looked back to see Korra mocking Lin on her way out, both glaring at each other with malcontent.

"Come on, Korra," I whispered harshly, reminding her that we had to leave. She picked up the pace, keeping her head high as she exited the room. The metal doors shut behind us, the sliding noise grinding into my ears.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"After I got off the boat, I went to get some food in the city. I didn't have any money, so I got some fish from a pond. Then a police officer started chasing me, so Naga and I went further into the city."

"I mean what got you in trouble," I said, wanting to know exactly how it had happened.

"These three thugs, the 'Triple Threat Triad'," she mocked with air quotes, "were ganging up on a harmless shopkeeper. Then one thing led to another… Basically, I beat them up and the police came, but then they wanted to arrest me too, so I ran, and then they caught me and brought me here"

"When you say you beat them up… you didn't do any property damage, did you?"

"I may have thrown a guy through a window… and a Satomobile may have crashed into a building…"

I slapped my forehead.

"They were going to burn down his shop and rob him!" she defended.

"And they would keep doing it unless they were arrested, I know," I sighed. _I am in so much trouble_.

We followed Tenzin at a safe distance until we went inside the waiting room to get Naga.

"Dad—"

"Kazumi. You blatantly disobeyed my wishes and the orders of the White Lotus."

"But Korra needed to get out of there, she can't learn airbending when she feels trapped. Even Gran-gran agrees with me that she needed to follow her own path—"

"Don't bring my mother into this!" he said furiously, his face turning lychee red.

"It's not Kazumi's fault, Tenzin. I need to come here, I can't stay cooped up in the South Pole forever!" Korra took a calming breath, "I saw a lot of the city today, and it's totally out of whack. I understand now why you need to stay here. Republic City needs you— but it needs me, too."

Tenzin closed his eyes and stroked his beard slowly, thinking it over. Then, the gate opened and a man walked in with Naga.

"Is this your polar bear dog, miss?" he asked in monotone as Naga licked his hair, fashioning it into an upstanding swirl.

/

"Korra!" Meelo and Ikki swarmed toward her as she stepped onto the island. Jinora walked over excitedly and hugged Korra when the other kids calmed down.

"Are you coming to live with us on the island?" Ikki beamed up at Korra.

"No," she said sadly, crouching down to level with her, "I'm sorry, I have to go home"

She stood back up, leaving the children watching sadly as she walked toward me.

"I'm sorry," I said, looking her in the eye.

"Me too," she sighed, "Goodbye," Korra raised a hand onto Naga's neck and the two of them walked to the ship.

"Wait—" Tenzin cut in. "I have done my best to guide Republic City toward the vision my father had for it, but you're right, it has fallen out of balance since he passed. I thought you should stay at the South Pole, to protect his legacy, but you _are _his legacy. You may stay here and resume your airbending training on the island."

"YES!" Korra punched the air enthusiastically, lifting me in the air with a hug. The kids ran over and, to my surprise, she picked them up, too. Lychee, my lemur, flew in a circle over us before landing on top of my head, Naga scooting closer to lick Korra.

Tenzin sighed, "What have I gotten myself into?"


	2. A Leaf In The Wind

**A LEAF IN THE WIND:**

Korra was situated in the room across from mine, making it easy for us to go to each other's rooms and hang out. We had become quite close, and I had even shown her my favorite spots on the island. I would take my radio and climb to the top of the tower, looking out at the city as the animated voice resonated around me.

I usually listened to music, but when a song came on that I didn't like, I'd change to the pro-bending channel and listen to a match. At that point, I'd forget all about looking for music and listen to the rest of the match. They were thrilling and made me feel as if I were watching them, myself. Bending is a beautiful art, but there's only airbending on this island. What it would be like, to watch them bend in the arena…

"What do you say we go to the arena tonight— catch a few bending matches?" Korra said while flipping through the newspaper at breakfast. I stopped drinking my tea and looked up at Tenzin to see what he would say.

"That sport is a mockery of the noble tradition of bending." He said dismissively, sipping his tea.

"Come on, Tenzin! I've dreamed of seeing a pro-bending match since I was a kid and now I'm just a ferry-ride away. Plus, it would be a great way to learn some new techniques!"

"Korra, you are here to finish your training with Kazumi, not to waste your time on drivel. For the time being, you must stay on the island."

"Is that why you've got all these White Lotus sentries around, to keep me in line?"

"Yes. I believe you require a calm environment free of any distractions— Air Temple Island."

"Alright, you're the master"

After breakfast, Korra changed into Air Nomad clothes and went to talk with Tenzin before training. The kids and I went ahead to the gates, eagerly awaiting their arrival.

"Korra's going to airbend! Korra's going to airbend!" Ikki jumped up and down excitedly, clapping in glee.

"What the heck is that?" Korra said, looking at the gates standing still, the airbending symbol on each face.

"A tool that teaches the most fundamental aspect of airbending. Kazumi?"

"The goal is to weave your way through the gates without touching them, following the path of least resistance to the other side."

"Seems easy enough," Korra said and took a stab at the task.

"You have to do it while they're spinning," Jinora added, sending a gust of air at the gates and sending them spinning.

"The key is to be the leaf, flowing with the movements of the gates," I said, releasing a leaf from my palm into the gates.

"Kazumi, would you like to demonstrate?" Tenzin asked. I nodded and stepped forward. I breezed through them, moving in a spiral motion and avoiding the gates, following the path of the leaf until I passed through. I stood on the opposite end and waited for Korra. One by one, the panels stopped moving, for she was hitting every panel in her path.

"Be the leaf!" Meelo said, making strange weaving motions with his arms.

"Spiral movements, Korra!" I shouted, but decided it was best to move out of the way, for she was barreling straight toward me. She had smashed her face straight into a panel and stumbled out, spinning until she fell to the ground. _That's not really what I had in mind…_

That night, I was woken by the sound of Korra storming down the hall and slamming her door shut. I sighed and got up, knowing I couldn't get back to sleep easily and that she probably needs someone to calm her down.

"What's bothering you?" I asked her softly from the doorway.

"Tenzin won't let me listen to the pro-bending match! It's not fair!" she growled, looking like she might just exhale flames.

"Try living with him," I laughed, "come with me."

She followed me curiously as I led her to my bedroom window and climbed out. I climbed along the wall until I reached the roof, where I then gave myself a boost with my bending until I was at the tallest part. I had a radio sitting on the edge, tied with a bit of ribbon so it wouldn't fall.

"A little help?" Korra said, still stuck on the roof. I waved her up, a gust of air obediently lifting her to my level. She stuck her footing and positioned herself securely, making sure she wouldn't fall but still could have a view of Republic City's skyline. I turned the dial on the radio and the animated voice of the pro-bending channel appeared.

"I was worried you were a daddy's girl," Korra said with a grin.

"I rebel a little," I said, returning her grin.

"What do you say we go see a real pro-bending match tomorrow night?"

"I don't know, Korra. What if he finds out?"

"I'll make sure to keep complaining so he isn't suspicious. Besides, you know you're dying to go into the city"

She did have a point, and as long as we worked together, we could pull it off.

"Alright, just this once."

/

I sighed and pulled my shoes on, the moonlight shining through my window. I know I should be worried, but at the moment I just felt excited and on edge from the thrill of sneaking out. I slid my door carefully and peeked to make sure the coast was clear before hopping over to Korra's room. She was spying out her window at the guards to see when we had an opening.

"_Now_," she whispered and leapt through the window. I followed closely behind, landing softly in the middle of the courtyard. We took a running leap off the edge of the cliff and dove into the water. Once under, I used my bending to maintain a pocket of air while Korra propelled us toward the Pro-Bending Arena.

When we were close to the edge of the building, Korra propelled up toward a window with a spout of water. I had never been lifted up by waterbending before so I felt a bit unsteady and reached desperately for the windowpane to ground me. We climbed inside and I dried us off before we began to search the rooms of the building. Before long, I spotted someone down the hall.

"Why _hello_," the boy said, somehow skipping ten feet closer to me. He had black hair with a superman curl, big green eyes, and wore red, white, and gold. "The name's Bolin, but _you_ can call me whatever you want."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kazumi," I smiled at the interesting boy. _I wonder if he's a bender?_

"So, Kazumi, what brings you here to my humble arena?"

"I came to see the tournament with Korr—" I turned to look at her but discovered she had disappeared.

"Oh, you came here with someone?" he said a bit sadly.

"Oh no!" I said and back down the hall. _I'm dead. I'm more than dead— I'm buried._

I skidded to a halt when I passed a room with two people in it, one of which I recognized as Korra. She seemed to be getting into trouble with an old man. _We got caught. Game over._

"Korra! There you are!" I shouted, running up to her.

"Oh, there's two of yeh?" the old man growled unhappily.

"It's all right, Toza, they're with me!" Bolin said, approaching us.

"Yeah, we're with him," Korra said with a smile.

"You see, we're together—" Bolin said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"Well, not _together_ together— more like friends," I explained.

"Oh— I didn't mean to imply—" Bolin's arm recoiled from my shoulder.

"Oh, you implied it," I said softly enough so that only we could hear.

"Bah— I don't care— Just get out of here!" the old man threw his arms in the air with defeat before going back to doing whatever it was he was doing.

"Right this way, ladies," Bolin bowed, gesturing toward the door.

"Thanks, Bolin," I said as I passed him.

"Seriously, thanks," Korra emphasized as we left the room.

"I was worried for a minute when you said you came with someone— I thought for a minute you had a boyfriend," Bolin joked.

"Nope, there's not really anyone on Air Temple Island I'd want to date. Just my family and a bunch of adults"

"Wait a minute— are you an airbender?"

"Yeah," I looked over at him to see that his jaw had dropped.

"No way! That is _so_ cool! Can you show me your airbending sometime?"

"Yeah, sometime," I said quietly, realizing that coming back to the city was unlikely.

"So, what do you think?" Bolin asked as he led us into a room overlooking the arena. "Best seats in the house, right?"

"Whoa," I said in awe, leaning over the edge to take in the entire stadium.

"This is _amazing_!" Korra looked around the stadium with a goofy grin on her face.

"The name's Bolin, by the way"

"Korra"

"_Psst_— Bolin," a boy in the corner called him over. I noticed he wore the same clothes except he had a red sash around his waist while Bolin had green. _Wait a minute…_

"I told you to stop bringing your crazy fangirls up here. Get them out," the boy said.

"Come on, Mako! They're really cool, and Kazumi over there's an airbender. An _airbender_!" he whispered excitedly. I wonder if they knew I could hear everything they were saying. "Hey! Kazumi, Korra, I want you two to meet my brother, Mako."

"Mako? You mean… you two are Fire Ferrets!" Korra exclaimed.

"And we're _not_ crazy fangirls," I crossed my arms, "We didn't even know who you were until now." I had to add that last bit because Korra looked a bit like a crazy fangirl at the moment.

"Come on, Bolin, we're up," Mako said, completely ignoring us.

"Sorry about my brother, there. He gets like that before a match. Anyway, wish me luck! Not that I need it," he waved before running to catch up with Mako.

"Good luck, Bolin!" I called out as I waved.

"Knock 'em out!" Korra shouted.

We watched eagerly as the announcer introduced the Fire Ferrets. Bolin put a hand to his ear to encourage the cheering while Mako and Hasook waved. They took a fighting stance as their opponents stepped into the ring.

"_And they're off! The two teams spend no time blasting each other out of zone one!_"

I watched as Bolin ducked under a fire blast, leaving an opening for Mako to shot back. Bolin kicked a disk at his opponent, which was blocked as he retaliated with a couple of blasts. _This is so exciting_.

"_Hasook is the first to take a hit! Mako shows off his trademark "cool under fire" style!_"

Everything was going great until the Fire Ferrets got knocked back to zone two. I clutched the railing, my eyes locked in anticipation. Mako jumped and spun on an axis, making for a hard target to hit. Unfortunately, when he landed an earth disk hit him in the chest and he landed himself in zone two. I started bouncing in place, too anxious to stay still.

I was practically bouncing off the walls when Hasook fell out of the ring, leaving Bolin and Mako sliding back into zone three.

"_Can the bending brothers hold their ground until next round_?"

They managed to stay in the game for the round, but the points went to the Golden Temple Tigerdillos. _What a mouthful… Fire Ferrets just rolls off the tongue. _

"Zumi!" Korra called, "calm down."

_Oops…_ I _had_ been bouncing off the walls. Well, I had been bouncing with my bending and it was getting more out of control because I hadn't noticed and tension was running high. I lowered myself to the ground and walked back to Korra's side just as the bell rang for the new round.

I frowned as the Fire Ferrets were almost immediately in the second zone while the Tigerdillos advanced into the Fire Ferret's territory. They seemed to make a nice comeback, knocking back each of them and taking the second round for the win.

It was the third and final round, now, and Hasook took a hit. He stumbled back into Bolin and, while they were trying to gather themselves, were both knocked out of the ring by earth disks. I braced myself as Mako took on all three of his opponents.

"_It's all up to Mako, now! He's bobbing and weaving— weaving and bobbing— but he's not hitting back! If Mako gets knocked out, it's over for the Fire— what's that? He's got a plan and it's working!_" I watched as Mako, standing at the edge of the ring, managed to knock out the waterbender. He started to really take the offensive and knocked out the firebender. For a minute, I lost sight of him from all of the smoke and dust, but then there he was, knocking out the earthbender with a fireball.

"_Mako's won the third round, making the Fire Ferrets the winners of the match!_"

"Woohoo, yeah!" Bolin cheered as he jumped into the locker room. "One more win and we're in the championship! So what do ya think, Kazumi?"

"What do I think? I think that was amazing!" I said, still bouncing as I jumped into a hug. "That was so cool! I can't believe I never came here before!"

Suddenly, Mako and Hasook entered, not looking nearly as happy as they should be.

"You almost cost us the match, Hasook!" Mako said, taking off his helmet.

"We won, didn't we?"

"Only because I pulled it together!"

"Whatever— get off my case!" he said, throwing his helmet to the side as he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

"You guys were incredible!" Korra said, impressed. "Especially you, Mr. Hat Trick!"

"Oh, you're still here?" he said coldly.

"Oh, you're still a jerk?" she retorted. Bolin and I joined in with a chorus of _ooh_'s. "Anyway," she turned away from Mako, "I've been immersed in bending my whole life, but I've never seen a style like yours, before. Think you could show me a few tricks?"

"Ab-so-lutely, but I have one condition"

"What?" Korra asked, clearly willing to do anything.

"You have to bring Kazumi, here," Bolin grinned.

"I'm sure we can work it out, right?" she said, looking at me with pleading eyes.

"Alright," I agreed. I didn't want to make a habit of sneaking out, but this was a great opportunity for Korra to practice bending and to see some, myself.

"Come on, Bolin," Mako said, annoyed.

"Ignore him," Bolin said quietly, just for us, before speaking louder, "Yeah, I could show you the basics, but I'm not sure how well it would transfer to waterbending"

"Won't be a problem," Korra said smugly, "I'm actually an earthbender."

"Oh— I didn't mean to assume—" Bolin started to get a bit frazzled, "— I just thought, you know, with your Water Tribe getup, that you're a Water Tribe… gal."

"No, you were right. She is a waterbender," I said.

"—and a firebender," she added casually.

"I see," Bolin said, stroking his invisible beard, clearly confused.

"You're the avatar," Mako said, "and I'm an idiot."

"Yes and yes," Korra said mockingly, enjoying him admitting he was wrong.

Bolin's jaw dropped once again. He slid over next to his brother and spoke with a hand shielding his mouth, "the _Avatar!_"

We left the locker room so they could change out of their armor.

"Glad we snuck out, now?" Korra said, looking over at me.

"You bet!" I grinned.

"Are you ladies ready? Because I am!" Bolin said, marching out of the locker room in a white beater and casual pants.

"This— is— so— awesome!" I said between bounces as we moved down the hall to the training room.

"You can stop bouncing, now, Kazumi," Korra said with a laugh.

"I'm bouncing— because— I'm excited— and I get— hyper— at this— hour. I'll probably—randomly fall asleep— soon!"

When we got to the training room, Bolin and Korra worked on shooting some earth discs into a net. I stood behind them near Mako, my bounces gradually becoming less energetic.

"Stay light on your toes until you're ready to strike," Bolin said, bouncing on his feet and shooting into the net. Korra matched his movements and shot discs straight into the net.

"Who's the Twinkle-toes, now?" I grinned. She shot a look back at me, but I could tell she was having fun.

I yawned and slid against the wall by Mako.

"Cheer up, you won the match," I said, trying to get him to lighten up.

"Don't tell me what to do," he snapped. I frowned, _no need to be so grumpy_. "I'm going to call it a night. See you upstairs, bro," he said and walked off. I stuck my tongue out at him as he walked away.

"Wait— you guys live here?" Korra asked.

"Yeah, we live upstairs in the attic. Nothing fancy, but it's got a nice view!" Bolin said.

"Korra," I yawned, "we should leave; it's getting late."

"But we're just getting started! And we haven't even gotten to airbending, yet," Bolin pouted.

"Don't worry, Bolin. We'll be back," Korra assured him.

"Promise?" he asked as Korra and I moved to leave.

"Promise," I smiled, "and you can see some airbending if you follow us to the window."

"The window?" he asked, confused. I walked into the hall and found the closest window.

"After you, Korra," I said, letting her jump out first. The water below graciously caught her and she waited for me to join her. I leapt out and cushioned my landing with some light airbending. Before we went underwater, I glanced back up at the window high above us to see Bolin's jaw hanging open in awe for the third time that night.

/

I changed into my training clothes and met everyone for a breakfast of porridge and fruit. I noticed Korra was looking at me and I smiled knowingly at her, sharing a mutual enjoyment of knowing we had pulled off last night at the arena.

Today, we were taking another spin at the spinning panels. Korra took a deep calming breath, which raised my hope in her success, but then she sprinted straight into the panels and was once again knocked around like a pinball.

"Patience!" Tenzin said, but it was too late. Korra had become so impatient that she had burst into a violent firebending tantrum. My jaw dropped as she burnt nearly all of the panels and broke the others, finally leaving her huffing over the ruins.

"That… _that was a two thousand year old historical treasure!" _Tenzin exploded before regaining composure. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

"I've been practicing just like you taught me, but it just isn't sinking in, okay?" Korra exclaimed, gesturing wildly.

"Korra, this isn't something you can force. If you'd listen to me, for once—"

"I have been! You're— _you're just a bad teacher!_"

I watched sadly as Korra stormed off in a rage.

"Yeah, you're a bad teacher, Daddy!" Meelo pointed up at Tenzin before running around, kicking things. Instead of chasing Meelo like I usually would, I hugged my dad because right now we were both hurting from Korra's insult.

Since there was no sense in staying on training grounds without Korra, I went inside to help Pema with dinner. She cooked the rice while I chopped vegetables on the counter.

"How was training?"

"It… it ended prematurely," I said, focusing at the task at hand.

"I'm sorry to hear that, sweetie. Hopefully dinner will help— a full stomach makes everyone smile!"

I smiled, remembering how grumpy I got that one time I missed breakfast. I never made that mistake again.

"Okay!" Pema said, serving the last of the meals, "Where's Korra?"

"Honestly, I'm at my wit's end with that girl. Promise me you won't be like that when you're a teenager, Jinora," Tenzin said.

"I will make no such promises," she said emotionlessly and took a sip of her tea. Tenzin chose to blissfully ignore the implications of her response and turned to me.

"I'm so glad you're not as troublesome as her— I don't even want to imagine what it would be like if I had two rebellious teenagers— isn't that right, Kazumi?" Tenzin said over his steaming bowl of rice.

"I'll go get Korra," I said, excusing myself to retrieve her. I bit my lip as I left to avoid dropping my poker face. When I reached Korra's door, I stepped inside and shut it behind me. "_He knows!_" I whispered harshly.

"Knows what?"

"That we've been going into Republic City behind his back!"

"If he knew he would have yelled at us by now," Korra said, aloof as she stared out the window at the city," you're probably just overreacting"

"You mean like you did earlier?" I retorted. "Sorry," I said quickly, worried she'd firebend again, but burn the house this time.

"No, I'm sorry I snapped earlier. I'm just frustrated— I can't airbend _at all_. I can barely meditate!"

"It's going to be difficult, because air is opposite of your personality. Aang struggled with firebending and wasn't able to for months after his first attempt."

"Yeah, well I'm probably past that point now. I'm a failure as an avatar"

"You're going to be a great avatar, Korra," I said softly, joining her on the side of her bed. "You just need to be patient and keep practicing."

"Well, right now I need a break."

"You mean a pro-bending match."

She finally smiled.

"Yes, that's exactly what I need."

/

"We aren't late, are we?" I asked as Korra and I ran into the locker room.

"Whoa— you guys look like you just lost," Korra said, halting before them.

"We might as well have," Bolin frowned.

"Hasook's a no-show," Mako snarled.

"_Two minutes or the Fire Ferrets forfit!_" the announcer… announced.

"Well there goes our shot at the tournament"

"No way— you guys have a top-notch waterbender at your disposal!" I grinned.

"Oh yeah?" Mako raised a brow, in no mood for fun.

"Yeah— _me_," Korra said, directing at herself with her thumb.

"But you're the avatar… isn't that cheating?"

"If she only waterbends, it's not," I said, hoping that I was right. I don't see why it should be cheating.

"No way, I'd rather forfit," Mako said.

"Gee, thanks for believing in me," Korra said sassily before turning to the closet to get a uniform.

"Hey! I didn't agree to this!" Mako objected.

"You can thank me, later," she smirked.

"This girl is crazy"

"Hey! Eyes on me— the girl's got to change!" I said, moving to the side opposite of Korra, making sure they kept their eyes on me.

"So… how about some airbending while we wait?" Bolin suggested.

"Good idea, Bolin!" I said and hopped on an air scooter, balancing on the swirling ball of air to keep me off of the ground. "This move is called the _air scooter_. Avatar Aang invented it when he was a kid— before he was stuck in an iceberg for a century. Because of this invention, he was given master status and received his arrow tattoos, becoming the youngest airbending master in history."

"Wow, you sure do know a lot about this stuff," Bolin said.

"What do you expect, she's an airbender," Mako said, "she knows more about airbending than all of us combined."

"Co—rrect!"

I hopped off of my air scooter and raised it up until it was hovering above my hand. I tossed it back and forth like I would a ball.

"Ooh! Me! Pass it to me!" Bolin waved his hands and jumped up and down. I tossed it over to him, but it just dissipated when it hit him.

"Oh, sorry… it works better with two airbenders," I apologized ruefully.

"_Last call, Fire Ferrets!_"

"Come on you guys!" Korra said as if she had been waiting for them.

"_Looks like the Fire Feerets found a last minute replacement waterbender! I wonder if she's a diamond in the rough like the bending brothers?_"

They took stance— the whistle blew— Korra knocked a guy out of the ring— Korra got a penalty— Korra moved back a zone—

"_And we're back in the game! Looks like the replacement doesn't know the ropes_"

The bell sounded again and they ensued battle. This time, the opponents focused on Korra and really tried to knock her out, seeing her as the weakest link. I gritted my teeth as they sent blast after blast of fire, water, and earth at her. She conjured up a shield, but was under such distress that it was all she could do to block. Soon, it wasn't enough, and she used two earth coins to protect herself.

"_Wait a minute—did that waterbender just EARTHBEND? Hold on folks, we're waiting for the referee's word, but… I think this girl could be… the Avatar!"_

_Ah, poodlemonkeys. _

"_The Avatar may continue as long as she solely bends water!"_

I exhaled a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. The Fire Ferrets continued, but Korra was still taking hits she couldn't handle. It wasn't long until she was knocked out of the ring and smacked right into the water. I slumped against the railing, disappointed in her performance. _There really is a completely different style, here_.

I watched as she climbed out of the water to face… Tenzin! _Well, that's it for me. _

They gestured wildly as they argued, I sunk down, hiding behind the railing as he looked up. Korra went to the lift and continued in the next round. This time, however, she dodged all of the blows sent her way, using the same spiral movements I had taught her.

"_Knockout!"_ I stretched over the railing with anticipation, grinning as the Fire Ferrets won, thanks to Korra's comeback.

"_And the Fire Ferrets nabbed a spot in the championships, folks!" _I thrust my fist into the air, my entire body spinning with joy. As I slowly lowered to the ground, I spotted Tenzin jumping for joy as well. The uncharacteristically excited expression on his face made me grin even more.

After thoroughly soaking up the applause, the three of them burst through the locker room door, looking happier than ever— even Mako looked jovial.

"Woohoo!" I said, running straight between Bolin and Korra, high-fiving them both simultaneously. "What a comeback! And _Korra_! You were amazing!"

"Thanks, but I can't take all the credit. I didn't learn to move like that on my own," she thanked. I smiled warmly and gave her a hug.

"You know, I kicked butt out there, too," Bolin pouted.

"You were great, too, Bolin"

"Oh, psh, that? That was nothing!" Bolin said, stretching his arms casually.

"And Mako," I said, "your title of Mr. Hat Trick may have just been stolen by Mrs. Hat Trick over there."

"Hey!" Korra said, catching the _Mrs_.

"Miss Hat Trick— whatever," I rolled my eyes. They are so touchy. "Anyway, you were great," I said, realizing I hadn't directly complemented him yet.

"Thanks, Kazumi," Mako said, "and you have your surprising moments, too."

When we got back, Tenzin was waiting for us.

"I'm really sorry about what I said, Tenzin. I was just angry with myself and took it out on you"

"I owe you an apology too, I keep trying to teach you patience when I failed to be patient myself. And Probending turned out to be a great tool for you, Korra! You moved just like an airbender!"

"I couldn't have done it without Kazumi," Korra added with a smile.

"I'm sorry for going behind your back, Dad," I apologized.

"I know you wouldn't have snuck out if you didn't think it was the right thing to do"

"So… are we okay?" I asked hopefully.

"Yes, we're okay," he said before I hugged him, Korra joining in.

"Great! So I'll see you tomorrow morning for airbending training? Oh, and I kind of permanently joined the Fire Ferrets and will be in the championship tournament in a couple of weeks!" Korra said, running off. I looked up at Tenzin to see a look of unpleasant surprise.

"Well, it's getting late. Goodnight!" I said and sprinted after her.


	3. The Revelation

**The Revelation:**

"Ughhhhh. Why are we training so early?" Korra whined.

"Because the morning is when we have the most energy!" I said, surprisingly chipper. Korra glared at me.

"Mornings are _evil._"

"Hey, I'm just trying to help out. I could've slept in, you know," I argued, "if Tenzin wasn't making me babysit."

This got her feathers ruffled, but before she could retort, Mako took advantage of the situation.

"Wait— she's _babysitting_ you?"

"I don't need babysitting!" Korra shouted, but Mako and Bolin were already laughing. "And I don't need _you_ here to spy on me for Tenzin!" Korra stormed out.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said that," I said ruefully.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Bolin said comfortingly, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "She'll come around when she cools off."

"She may have taken it the wrong way, but I sure thought it was funny," Mako said.

"Thanks, guys," I smiled.

"So what's with this babysitting business?" Bolin said, raising an eyebrow with curiosity.

"Tenzin's worried about her being in the city alone, that she'd be in danger again. Korra's got a bit of a knack for finding trouble," I said, getting quieter as they leaned in more.

"What kind of trouble are we talking?"

"Oh, nothing, really"

"_Kazumi_," Bolin pleaded with big puppy eyes. _No! Not the eyes!_

"So you've discovered my greatest weakness," I narrowed my eyes. "I will tell you— on one condition—" they leaned in eagerly, "—_if_ you can catch me."

"No prob-lem-o" Bolin said, cracking his knuckled. I grinned evilly and ran away from him, letting him chase me but making sure there was just the right amount of distance to keep him going without catching me. I had a lot of fun toying with Bolin— I even ran up a wall and flipped over him at one point— but then I saw that Korra had returned and was standing next to Mako, both of them watching us as if we were some sort of entertainment show. I grinned and acted as if I were in front of a crowd, becoming a little flashier with my movements. It was when I heard clapping that I stopped. Bolin, not expecting my sudden halt, slammed into me.

"Ouch! Bolin you weigh a million pounds!" I complained, stuck between an earthbender and a hard floor.

"Sorry Kazumi! Are you okay?" he said, clambering to his feet.

"So good to see my little street urchins up so early. And my, what a magnificent display! You, young lady, must be an airbender!"

"Uh, yeah," I said as Bolin and I walked closer to them.

"And might I say, it is an honor to meet the Avatar"

"And… you are?" Korra said, somewhat annoyed.

"Butakha— I run this place— and here's your earnings from the last match," he said, dropping a stack of cash in Mako's hand. Mako grinned and went to put it away, but Butahka cut in. "Ah ah ah— First, you owe me for the Avatar's new gear, rent, and personal loans." By the time Butahka was done taking back the money for each, there was nothing left in Mako's hand. Mako's grin was gone and he was now glaring at Bolin.

"What? I'm a growing boy," Bolin said innocently, rubbing his stomach.

"Oh, and you have to earn thirty thousand yuans for the championship pot," he added before leaving.

"_Thirty thousand yuans?_" Bolin said, his hands sliding down the sides of his face from shock.

"That sounds like a lot," I said softly, trying to pick out how much it really was.

"Do _you_ have thirty thousand yuans lying around, Kazumi?"

"We don't really need money on the island, sorry"

"What about you, Korra? You wouldn't happen to have a secret vault of avatar money, would you?"

"Nope, I've got nothing. I've always had people taking care of me," Korra said, turning out her pockets.

"Then I wouldn't say you've got nothing," Mako said accusingly.

"We've been on our own since we lost our parents," Bolin said sadly.

"I'm so sorry—" I began, looking worriedly at Bolin.

"It's alright," he assured me.

"We had no idea," Korra said compassionately.

"Don't worry. I'll figure something out. I always do."

I watched Mako sadly as he walked away.

"Oh! I've got it!" Bolin said, grabbing Pabu. "Kazumi, come on!"

Lychee, who had been playing with Pabu, jumped onto my shoulder. I looked over at Korra, who shrugged and said "Go ahead." I broke into a grin and we ran out.

"Where are we going?"

"To city station!" he said, Pabu climbing onto his shoulder, "lots of people pass by there. I figure if we pull some tricks, we should make some good money."

"What kind of tricks?"

"I've been teaching Pabu circus tricks!"

City station was a big, busy, and open area in the city with a statue of Firelord Zuko in the middle. Flames were held lit in his hand as if he were firebending. _So cool._

Bolin took a seat right in front of the statue and I leaned against it, watching curiously as he set up his little stage. Lychee and Pabu chased each other until he was ready. I watched people as they walked by, taking in all of their foreign appearances and actions. People watching in Republic City turned out to be quite fun.

"How do I look?" Bolin asked. I turned my attention to him only to see him sporting a flashy jacket and a fake mustache.

"Good sir, I do say you look quite spiffy," I joked amusingly.

"Thank you, milady," he bowed and I giggled. He turned and began to announce his show to the passersby, having Pabu walk along a plank suspended a few inches from the ground. A man passing by tossed a coin at us disinterestedly. Bolin sighed, "Does Lychee know any tricks?"

"Not really, sorry," I had never thought about teaching him tricks. Bolin looked so sad, though, that I had to give it a try. "Lychee," I said, grabbing a small hoop from Bolin's pile of tricks, "go!" I said, tossing it into the air. Lychee, who had been licking himself, turned to look at me as if I was crazy. The hoop fell to the ground and rolled into the street, being run over by a car soon after. The car stopped in front of us, the door opening to reveal a shady looking man.

"Bolin, is that you?"

"Oh… Hey there, Shady Shin," Bolin said, dejected. _Shady Shin… How fitting. _

"Don't be rude, introduce me to your lady friend," he said, getting out of the car and walking toward us.

"This is Kazumi. Kazumi, Shady Shin," Bolin said without directly looking at me.

"Hey," I said carefully, his character striking me as suspicious. Pabu and Lychee didn't seem to like him, either, and ran behind my legs.

"Heard you're a big time pro-bender, these days. Not bad."

"Thanks"

"So, I've got an offer for you. Lightning Bolt Zolt is looking to hire some extra muscle."

"Uh, I don't know, Shin. Mako said to stay away from the Triple Threats"

"The Triple Threat Triad?" I said, standing up straight from recognition of the name. They were the ones Korra fought when she came here.

"It's just a little security work, nothing crooked," he insisted, but it didn't affect my position. They didn't sound like the right kind of crowd for us. Shady Shin reached in his pocket and tossed a wad of cash at Bolin, whose jaw dropped, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. _That's some serious cash._

"You game?" he asked confidently. Bolin nodded fervently, pocketing the cash and standing up.

"Bolin, I'm not so sure about this," I whispered.

"We need the money, Kazumi. Besides, it's just security work"

"You're welcome to join us," Shin said from inside the car.

"It's probably safer if you—" Bolin began, but I was already sitting next to him with the door shutting behind me. "Or you can come. That's cool, too."

_You can protect them, Bolin, but I'm going to protect you_, I thought determinedly. No way he was going into this alone.

Suddenly, the car stopped. Shady Shin got out first, only to be ambushed. I kicked the door open and jumped out, flipping on top of the car to see that men in weird uniforms and weapons charged with electricity had surrounded us. Bolin had gotten out of the car and had begun to fight while one of them decided to join me on top of the car. I dodged his attempts to hit my pressure points and moved evasively until he lost his footing and, with a slight nudge, fell off of the car. It was then that I noticed Bolin was under heavy attack and had three chi blockers on his tail. I jumped off of the car and flipped over one of them, digging my thumbs into the pressure points in his shoulders and knocking him out. By the time my feet hit the ground, however, one of them had anticipated my moves and electrocuted me.

I fell to the ground and watched as Bolin fought single-handedly— literally. His right arm had been blocked and hung limply at his side as he tried to fight them off. It wasn't long before he was lying on the ground beside me, his eyes looking at me apologetically. We were bound and thrown in the back of a truck, which drove roughly through the streets. We were gagged, but Bolin seemed to be trying to apologize with his eyes. _It's okay, Bolin. We'll get out of this… somehow._

When the car stopped, the back doors opened and we were dragged out and under a building. Finally, they ripped off our gags and tossed us into a cell.

"What do you want with us?" I asked, rising to my knees, my hands and feet still bound.

"All benders are going to pay for their crimes. Tonight is the equalist revelation— you're going to face Amon, our leader," the man with the pedophile mustache said.

"But I'm not a bender!" I exclaimed, desperate to find a way out. "I was just defending myself!"

"She could be telling the truth— she didn't do any bending. She actually took out a couple of our guys. She could be a great chi blocker"

"Fine," he said, opening the cell door. _Are they going to release me?_ I thought excitedly. I could go get help and rescue Bolin. "We'll take her to Amon."

My eyes widened with horror. I glanced back at Bolin as they led me out of the cell and down the hall. _This was not part of the plan… Okay, how do I get out of this one?_

The man led me into the opening to a large room with people moving boxes on the floor below. Only a few feet in front of me stood a cloaked man looking over them.

"Amon, we captured this girl along with the benders. She could be of use to us."

I watched as he turned his head, his cold steely eyes hidden behind his mask. It was white with a red circle on his forehead, the streamline details almost snakelike.

"Yes… she will be…"

"What do you want us to do, sir?"

"Put her with the others."

"Sir?"

"That girl is an airbender. But she won't be for long."

_So much for that._ I took a deep breath and blew as hard as I could, knocking backwards into the mustache man behind me. He slammed into the wall and slid to the ground. I hopped as fast as I could down the hallway, but by the time I met the next fork in the hall, someone had lifted me by the scruff of my collar.

"Lock her up," Amon's cold voice said calmly, "I'll deal with her later."

I kicked and struggled, but they electrocuted and gagged me so I could barely breathe, let alone airbend. They threw me roughly back into the cell with Bolin.

"Are you alright?" Bolin asked. I managed to roll over and get to my knees but I still couldn't speak. Bolin scooted closer to me and bit the side of the cloth and tugged it until it came off. I took a minute to catch my breath before speaking, but I knew he wouldn't like what he was going to hear. Amon's words ran through my mind, _That girl is an airbender. But she won't be for long._

"Are you okay? What did they do to you?"

"They took me to Amon," I said, looking away, "I'm scared, Bolin."

"Me too," he said, sinking to the floor.

"Whatever they're going to do, Bolin, it isn't good."

"I wish Korra and Mako were here," he said sadly.

"Me too, Bolin. Me too."

After what seemed like hours, they finally came to let us out. They led us out onto a stage in front of a crowd of hundreds. We sat on our knees while Amon stood in center stage, addressing the audience.

"Lightning Bolt Zolt, leader of the Triple Threat Triad, has extorted and abused nonbenders for years. Now, his reign of terror is at its end. To be fair, he will have a chance to fight to keep his bending."

They untied Zolt, who, of course, unleashed a mass of firebending upon Amon, who dodged every single attack sent his way. While he was sending lightning at Amon, he moved behind him and twisted his arm behind his back. Amon put his thumb on his forehead and the lightning fizzled out, Zolt collapsing on the ground. Zolt tried to firebend, but failed.

"What… What did you do to me?"

"Your firebending is gone. Forever." I gasped, his words becoming clear, now. "The era of bending is over. A new era of Equality has begun."

The audience of equalists cheered as Shady Shin was brought to fight and have his bending taken away. He, too, failed to defeat Amon and lost his bending. I shudder as he fell to the ground, seemingly lifeless without his bending.

"And now, for a special treat. One of the last airbenders has decided to join us tonight," he said, as I was untied. The crowd cheered, but I merely stood defensively, ready to dodge as much as possible. If he couldn't catch me, he couldn't take my bending. "Just like an airbender— never striking their opponent. You'll regret that."

And just as Amon began to rush toward me, steam began to fill the room, blocking my vision. I braced myself, but it appeared he had backed off. I took advantage of this and ran over to Bolin.

"Are you alright?" I asked as I untied him.

"Yes! Kazumi! I love you!" Bolin said and embraced me gratefully.

"There's no time to celebrate— we have to get out of here!"

"Bolin, Kazumi, this way!" Mako's voice shouted as he appeared before us. We followed closely behind him as he led us out of the building. We found an exit and began to climb down a ladder, but the mustache man followed us and electrified it, causing us to fall to the ground below. Bolin was the first to jump to his feet, but was electrocuted in seconds. The mustache man was ready for us and electrocuted Mako before he could get a hit on him. I was a little craftier and managed to dodge his attacks, but with Bolin and Mako passed out on the ground, it was difficult to formulate a plan in which I got both of them out safely.

"You need to understand— there's no place for benders in the world anymore," he said, pausing to stare me down. _Like that's going to convince me to give up! _

Then it hit me. _Mako didn't come alone._

"_KORRA!_" I shouted with all of my might. Mustache man covered his ears and I closed my eyes, focusing on my scream.

Suddenly, a big rock hit him from the side, slamming him into the wall. Korra had arrived in the nick of time.

"Korra!" I cheered as Naga ran over to us. Korra began to help Mako to his feet, but more equalists were coming. I jumped onto Naga's back, Mako and Korra joining me.

"Bolin!" I shouted, realizing he was still on the ground. Naga picked him up by her teeth and began to run away.

"Stop—I want— to be— on— your back!" Bolin said between bounces.

While Bolin wasn't exactly being carried gently, at least we had managed to escape. I leaned forward, resting my forehead on Korra's back as we rode. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and was exhausted from all of this. I found myself drifting off, in spite of the rough ride as we hurried away from the scene.

"How did you find us?" I asked.

"Lychee came back without you— I knew something was wrong."

_I'm going to have to give that lemur a bushel of apples when I get back. _

When we got back to Air Temple Island, Tenzin looked more distressed than I was.

"Kazumi! Are you alright, Dad?"

"I'm fine, Dad," I assured him, but hugged him tightly and didn't let go.

"What on earth were you thinking, running off with that boy?"

"She didn't run off," Korra cut in, "she was captured by Amon."

"_What?_" he gasped, loosening his grip to look at me. "Is this true?"

"He locked Bolin and I up. I was so scared, Dad. He can take people's bending away— permanently. He almost took mine," I said, looking away.

"That's… that's impossible. Only the Avatar has ever possessed that ability"

"It's true, Tenzin. I saw him do it," Korra said.

"I don't know how it's possible, but if he's truly that powerful, it means the revolution is more dangerous than ever. No bender is safe."


	4. The Voice In The Night

**The Voice In The Night: **

I sat in the corner of my room, hugging my pillow on top of my bed. I hadn't been able to sleep ever since the Revelation. Amon's words still rang in my head. _That girl is an airbender. But she won't be for long._ Suddenly, a shadow cast through the window and onto the wall. I jumped in fright, only to see Lychee climb inside and curl up at my feet comfortingly.

"It's alright, Lychee…" I said, petting his head, my eyes set on the window.

"You need to sleep, Kazumi," he said.

Wait. _What? _

I looked down at Lychee to see him staring up at me, his head cocked to the side. _I thought he spoke, for a minute_. I sighed and looked back at the window.

"You're going crazy, Kazumi," I said to myself.

"You've been up too long," the voice spoke again. My eyes darted down to look at Lychee. I rubbed my eyes and examined him suspiciously. _Did he just…?_

"You need rest," he said again. This time, I saw his mouth move. I screamed and jumped out of bed, my leg caught in the sheets, sending me tumbling onto my face. I scrambled to my feet, but when I looked back, he was gone and the sun was out. _Did I fall asleep?_

"I need water," I resolved, leaving my room and heading for the kitchen. I poured a glass and sat on the counter, trying to relax. When Pema walked in, I jumped off of the counter. She didn't like it when I sat up there— but I loved it.

"Couldn't sleep last night either?" she asked, joining me.

"No," I sighed. "I keep hearing his voice in my head, like he's right behind me. I can't sleep— I can't meditate. Every time I close my eyes— he's there."

"You're safe now, sweetie. Your father is at a meeting right now to address the issue," she said, placing her hand comfortingly on my back.

"I think I'm going to get some fresh air. Thanks," I said and headed outside, but I didn't join Korra. I went to the roof with my radio and listened to music. I was at the highest point on the island, the entire landscape in my view. Nothing and no one could sneak up on me up here. I sang to help myself relax, my eyes staring out at the cityline. Suddenly, the music stopped and Amon's voice took over.

"Good evening, my fellow equalists. This is your leader, Amon. As you've heard, the Republic Council has voted to make me public enemy number one, proving once again that benders are oppressing this city's revolution— but we cannot be stopped. We grow every day. You no longer have to live in fear— the time has come for benders to live in fear."

I froze as the radio went silent, the happy light music suddenly beginning again. Still, the chill over my skin would not go away. I turned it off and leapt down from the roof to find Korra looking equally as horrified as I.

"You too?" I asked. She nodded, a bead of sweat dripping down her face. "Want to go for a swim?" I asked, craving the cool calming waters. She nodded and we went to the edge of the island, diving deep into the lake. I kept a bubble of air around my head, but let the rest of my body relax in the cool water. Just like I feel safer soaring through the skies than on land, being underwater calmed me. Korra and I swam further into the lake, a school of fish passing by us. I don't know how long we were under, but I had to filter the oxygen from the water into my bubble of air until I finally surfaced.

"Thanks, Kazumi. That helped," Korra said.

"Next time I'm taking you flying," I said. She nodded and began to swim back.

We dried off before heading to dinner, me taking my seat between Meelo and Korra. We joined the rest of the family in prayer before eating. Suddenly, the door slid open and a man in watertribe clothing walked in.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" he said, bowing.

"This is my home, Tarrlok. We're about to eat dinner," Tenzin said, standing up to face him.

"Good, because I am absolutely famished!" he said, walking in further. "Airbenders never turn away a hungry guest," he reminded. Tenzin sighed and sat down, although Pema scowled in discontent.

"You must be Avatar Korra. It's an honor. I am councilman Tarrlok from the Northern Water Tribe"

"Nice to meet you," Korra said, bowing back.

"Why do you have three ponytails? And how come you smell like a lady? You're weird," Ikki said, glaring at him.

"Well aren't you… precocious… Anyway, Korra, it took real initiative to infiltrate Amon's rally"

"Uh, thanks."

"Republic City is much better now that you've arrived"

"Enough with the flattery, Tarrlok," Tenzin said, "What do you want?"

"Patience, Tenzin. I came to request that you join my task force to fight Amon," he asked Korra. "I need someone who is fearless in the face of danger to help me. Someone like you."

"I… I can't," Korra said, sipping her tea.

"I must admit I'm surprised. I thought you'd jump at the chance," Tarrlok admitted.

"Me too," Tenzin said, surprised at her answer, albeit happy with her response.

"I came to Republic City to complete my Avatar training, which needs to be my focus," she said calmly.

Which is why you should join me and get experience"

"Korra gave you her answer— now you need to leave," Tenzin said firmly.

"Very well," he stood to leave, "but I'm not giving up."

"Bye-bye, ponytail man!" Ikki waved as he exited.

The next say, I lay on a branch in a tree overlooking the city when Bolin strode into my field of vision.

"Hey there, Kazumi"

"Oh, hey Bolin," I said, turning so I was sitting on the branch.

"I haven't seen you in a while— you haven't come to practice"

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's cool. We're probably out of the tournament anyway, since we don't have any money. But whether we do or don't, I don't want to stop seeing you. That's why I came here to give you this," he said, holding out his arm toward me. Pabu climbed out to his wrist, a rose between his teeth. "Ta-da!"

"Thanks, Bolin. That's really sweet," I said, taking the rose from Pabu. "But what are you giving me a rose for?"

"Um... I don't remember. Oh, wait, yes I do. You saved me from Amon!"

"Oh… yeah. I guess."

"Are you serious? You were amazing! I was so scared when Amon was like _I will take away your bending forever_," He said, trying to imitate Amon by acting like a zombie. "I still can't sleep well."

"Me either"

"Well, since neither of us can sleep, why don't the two of us go into the city and grab a bite to eat?"

"Sure," I said, hopping down from the tree. "Just let me put this rose in some water"

"Alright, I'll wait here," Bolin said, holding his hands behind his back and whistling as I went inside. I filled a glass with water and put the rose in it, placing it on the table.

"Who's that from? Is it from your boyfriend? What's his name? Is he that cute earthbender boy outside?" Ikki said, appearing suddenly.

"It's just from Bolin for saving him from Amon," I said, brushing her off.

"Are you going on a date? Are you going to kiss him?" she continued.

"We're just going to grab something to eat, Ikki."

"Do you like him? Are you going to get married?"

"Goodbye, Ikki," I said, shutting the door behind me. If I were lucky, she'd stay inside. Just in case, I ran for it.

"Hey Zumi," Bolin smiled. "Ready to go?"

"Yep! Let's get out of here," I said, whistling for Aika. She came and landed in front of us. Lychee flew ahead and sat on her saddle, Pabu climbing after him. I leapt into the air, landing by the reins, and waited for Bolin to climb up. "Ready?" I asked.

"Yeah, but we're not going to fly are we?"

"Of course we are! _Yip yip_!" Aika raised her tail and thrust it down, lifting us into the air. Bolin cheered and hollered into the wind as we flew toward the city, enjoying the feeling of flight. I grinned and took us down on the coast, landing behind the arena. "Alright, you two. Aika's in charge, so no funny business," I said, looking down at Pabu and Lychee sternly. "Let's go, Bolin," I said, content with my warning toward them.

"You two behave, now," Bolin said to them before turning to follow me.

"So, where do you want to—"

"Look at _that!_" I said, running over to a cart of steaming food. "Now _this_ is food! Bolin, we've got to try this!"

So we bought some street food and walked around the city. When we passed a hat shop, we went inside and tried on all of the different hats, most of which looked absolutely ridiculous. We had a lot of fun, strolling through the city and goofing around. Then we passed a theater that seemed to be showing a play called _Avatar: The Legend of Aang_.

"That looks interesting," I said, standing beneath the sign and staring up at it.

"They're showing it tonight. Want to see it?"

"Sure!" I said and we walked up to the counter, bought two tickets, and went inside. "I'm going to get some snacks, why don't you go find a seat?"

"Alright," he said and went inside the theater. I ordered a bag of fireflakes and went inside, only to find the lights were off and the play had started. Once my eyes adjusted, I spotted Bolin's superman curl silhouette and sat down next to him.

"You missed the beginning. Katara and Sokka found Aang trapped in an iceberg. He got captured by Zuko and they went after him," Bolin whispered.

"I know, my Gran-Gran told me the story a million times. Fireflake?" I offered. He took a handful, shoved them in his mouth.

"Ow! Hot! Hot!" he said, freaking out.

"Well, they are _fire_flakes," I laughed.

"_Shhh_," someone hushed us. I stuck my tongue out in their general direction and turned back to the play. It was pretty long and I fell asleep partway through and woke up to find Aang battling the firelord. I watched intently as he defeat Ozai, placed his hand on his head, and removed his bending. It looked the same as when Amon did it, except Aang glowed. With Zuko as firelord, they were an unstoppable force and brought balance back to the world, establishing Republic City and starting new.

It was when people started throwing trash on the stage that I began to get upset.

"_Boo_," they shouted, tossing their food and trash at the actors.

"Hey!" I said, standing in my seat. "Show some respect to the performers and to Avatar Aang!"

My protest didn't seem to help, for they just started throwing trash at me. The curtains closed, preventing any more projectiles from hitting the actors. Bolin took my hand and led me out of the theater.

"What was all that about? Are there really that many of Amon's supporters out there?"

"The equalists are growing, Kazumi," Bolin said sadly. "Anyway, don't let them spoil the evening. The play was pretty good!"

"Yeah, the effects were the best part, I think"

And so we walked back to the arena, the streets lit by fire lamps that glowed off the water.

"I had a really good time, tonight," Bolin said.

"Me too. I'll see you later!" I said and hugged him before jumping up onto Aika. Pabu jumped down and climbed onto his shoulder while Lychee sat in my lap. "_Yip yip!_" I said, Bolin waving goodbye as I flew away.

"You were out late," Korra said as I opened my bedroom door.

"I was just out with Bolin," I said, "Dad didn't worry, did he?"

"Nah, I just told him you went outside somewhere to calm your nerves. He didn't push further"

"Oh," I said, realizing that she had covered for me, "thanks, Korra." _I guess going into the city is something he would disapprove of. I've been doing it so much lately, though._

/

"Whoa! What's that, Korra?" I said, running outside to see what new gift Tarrlok had bought her.

"A Satomobile," she said, uninterested.

"Cool!" I said, jumping inside. "How do you think it works?" I asked as Meelo and Ikki jumped in. They started messing around with the buttons until it started to growl at me, vibrating as if it wanted to race across the island. The little dials in front of me began to flutter. I raised a brow in curiosity and leaned forward. I quickly learned that I triggered something that made it start moving, for the vehicle let out a burst of speed and we zipped straight ahead.

I screamed in horror as the world rushed by, only me, the Satomobile, and the kids grinning beside me were visible. I gripped the wheel, but we only moved faster, zipping forward until we ran straight off the island. I grabbed onto the back of Meelo and Ikki's shirts and leapt into the air and back onto solid ground. While we had managed to escape safely, the Satomobile was not so lucky, and was sinking to the bottom of the lake.

"Let's do that again!" Meelo grinned, attempting to walk, but instead fell on his face.

The next day, I sat with Jinora outside the temple, playing a nice game of Pai Sho. This was her game of expertise, while I was much better at Four Nations. Jinora was just about to pull out her final move when the council page appeared. I looked over to Korra, who hopped off of the wall she had been sitting on.

"Avatar Korra! I have something for you!" he said as he approached her. Korra turned him around and have him a swift kick in the back. I stood up, leaving my hopeless game behind me, and walked over to them.

"Tell Tarrlok that no matter how many gifts he sends, I won't join his task force," Korra said sternly.

"It's not a gift— it's an invitation"

"To what?" I asked.

"Tarrlok is throwing a gala in your honor," he said. Korra grabbed the invitation from him and I stood next to her, reading it. _He's throwing this big party… of course we're going. What a ratsnake, manipulating Korra like this. _

While my thoughts were less than kind, my smile was growing as I realized we were going to go to a big party in the city. Korra and I went inside to find Tenzin, showing him the invitation when we found him.

"Kazumi, come with me," Pema said, leading me to her room. I followed her, unsure where she was taking me, until we came to her and Tenzin's bedroom. "I have just the dress for you to wear," she said, pulling a box out of her closet and revealing a beautiful golden gown with scarlet accents.

"Is this…?"

"This dress has been in this box for so long, it's dying to be worn to a party," she said, taking it out and holding it up. She gave it to me to try on, and it fit like a glove.

"It feels great," I said, running my hands down my sides. _The fabric is so smooth._

"So, are you going to take anyone to the gala?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe that boy you were out with the other night?" she said with a wicked grin.

"_Mom!_"

"Ikki told me," she said, "don't worry, I haven't told anyone."

_I am going to kill that girl._

/

"_Zuuummmiiii_— there's a boy here for you!" Ikki said, zipping past my room. I took a deep breath and opened my door to see Bolin standing there with a bouquet of pink flowers, clad in a fancy yellow shirt, green vest, and a suit.

"Hey—uh— you look—um," Bolin cleared his throat, "these are for you!"

"Thanks," I smiled, taking the flowers and smelling their sweet scent.

"Except this one," he said, taking one of them back. Confused, I looked up to see he was placing the flower in my hair.

"How do I look?"

"Beautiful," he smiled. I grinned in response and set the bouquet into the vase on my dresser before stepping into the hall.

"You ready, Korra?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said, stepping out. "Do I look okay?"

"You look great! You should wear dresses more often!"

"Pft, yeah, right," she said. I smiled, knowing perfectly well that she wouldn't wear a dress ever again if she could help it.

When we walked into City Hall, everyone applauded upon our arrival. The kids immediately ran off while Bolin and I entered at Korra's side, taking in the whole scene.

"Wow— this is amazing!" I said, gaping at the extravagance.

"I can't believe this is all for me," Korra said in awe.

"Keep your guard up, Korra," Tenzin said, "Tarrlok has to be up to something."

"Is that Mako?" I said, cocking my head to the side.

"Hey, bro," Bolin said as we walked up to him.

"Hey Bo," Mako said, he and his date turning to face us. "Asami, let me introduce you to Kazumi. Kazumi, this is my girlfriend, Asami Sato."

"Nice to meet you, Asami," I smiled. _Since when does he have a girlfriend?_

"You too, Kazumi," she said politely.

"So how did you two meet?" I asked.

"That's a funny story, actually," Mako said.

"I hit him with my moped."

"_What?_ Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! More than fine, really—"

"My father's calling us over," Asami said, tugging on Mako's arm and leading him over toward Tenzin, Korra, and Mr. Sato.

"Well that's one way to catch a guy— run him down with your moped," I said sarcastically.

"Good one!" Bolin said, breaking out into laughter.

"I'm glad you appreciate my humor"

"I'm glad you're humorous," he replied. I smiled.

"I doubt anyone else here would think so," I said, looking out at all of the older attendees. I was probably the youngest here, except for my siblings. _They throw a party for a teenager and don't even have music playing._

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Mr. Sato is going to sponsor us— we're going to the championships!"

"That's great, Bolin!" I said, giving him a celebratory hug. I pulled away when I spotted paparazzi swarming around Korra and Tarrlok. Tarrlok pushed her forward, making it impossible for her to avoid talking to them. _This isn't good_.

"Why are you backing away from this fight?"

"You promised to serve this city. Aren't you backing out on this promise now?"

"Do you think pro-bending is more important than protecting the citizens of Republic City from Amon?"

"How do you think Avatar Aang would have handled this?"

"Are you afraid of Amon?"

"I'm not _afraid_ of anybody!" Korra snapped. "If the city needs me then… I'll join Tarrlok and fight Amon."

"There's your headline, folks!" Tarrlok said, putting his arm around Korra. _No…_ We'd fallen right into his trap. I looked over at Bolin, who was looking at me, confused. I shook my head, indicating that this was a bad turn of events.

/

Korra became absorbed by her new role in Tarrlok's task force. She was almost never around, and when she was, she was exhausted and moody, leaving little to no time for any airbending training, let alone hanging out. I often went to the arena to see Mako and Bolin, who were always downtrodden when they saw me coming alone. I practiced with them, but it wasn't easy to fill the shoes of a bender of a different element, let alone the avatar.

"No Korra again?" Mako asked, reading a newspaper.

"No," I sighed, walking toward him to look over his shoulder. Korra's face was all over it, showing her behind captured chi blockers and standing beside Tarrlok. "It's consumed her, this task force. It's breaking her down— I don't like it at all."

"Hey everyone, what's up?"

"Korra's still in Tarrlok's clutches," I said.

"So… nothing new."

"Nope."

"Well, let's not let it spoil our night. Are you three ready?"

So the four of us went in one of Asami's dad's Satomobiles and were rolled around in the moonlight. I tried to let my anxiety about Korra sit on the backburner and focus on enjoying my time with Bolin, Asami, and Mako— and I did.

"Goodnight you two," Mako waved as Bolin and I got out of the car.

"Bye!" we waved, heading for the boat waiting for us at the pier. There were a lot of people there, more than I expected, but we managed to get a boat and set out for Air Temple Island. I leaned against the side of the boat and gazed up at the sky.

"So…" Bolin said slowly, moving next to me.

"My Gran-gran once told me a story of how her brother Sokka was in love with a beautiful princess named Yue, but when the Northern Water Tribes were under siege, she sacrificed herself to save the moon spirit."

"Wow… that's so sad."

"Sokka named this lake Yue Lake in her memory, but I believe she lives on in the moon and whenever he looked up at the moon he knew she was watching over him. He's really lucky— to have someone who cares about him that much."

All went silent, except for the sound of our breath and Bolin's fidgeting.

"I care about you"

I looked over at him to see nothing but truth in his eyes. He leaned forward and I closed my eyes, our lips meeting in a gentle kiss.

/

"_What?_" I gasped, shocked at what Tenzin was telling me. Apparently, Korra had challenged Amon to a duel and he had ambushed her. She still had her bending and was safe in bed, but I felt selfish, having been out with Bolin when Korra was in such danger. "I should have been there."

"You couldn't have stopped her, Kazumi—"

"How do you know?" I snapped, instantly feeling ashamed. I turned and made a beeline for Korra's room, finding her curled up on her bed. "Korra?" I asked softly, sitting beside her. Wordlessly, she turned to cry in my shoulder. I held her as she wept, whispering _I'm sorry_.

/

This is it, everyone! I'm going to go to Africa! I'll be back at the end of the month. Things are going to be a bit crazy when I get back, but I'll start posting again for sure :)


	5. The Spirit of Competition

**The Spirit of Competition:**

"It's so great that your father is sponsoring the Fire Ferrets," I said, carrying the new uniforms alongside Asami.

"Well, I spoke pretty passionately about them, so it's not a surprise that he helped out," she said. We walked into the training room to find the three of them in a huddle.

"Hey, Asami," Mako said, breaking the huddle.

"Good morning, sweetie," Asami said, nuzzling noses with him in an eskimo kiss. Korra was cringing in disgust at their display off affection.

"The new uniforms are in!" I said, handing Bolin and Korra theirs and distracting them from Mako and Asami.

"They look great," Bolin said, holding his up.

"Well, teammates, I'll see you before the match. Asami and I have a lunch date," Mako said, draping his shoulder around Asami and leading her out.

"I've got to go clean the lemur cages before I vomit," Korra said, throwing her bag over her shoulder.

"So, Kazumi… There they go, here we are, alone in the gym, just you and me, two _alone_ people. Together. Alone."

"Yep," I said, glancing over at him from behind a curtain of my hair.

"So, what do you say we go out to lunch?"

"I'd love to, Bolin, but I really should go with Korra. She needs me right now"

"Oh, okay," he said, dejected, "maybe some other time?"

"Sounds good," I said, kissing him on the cheek, "see you tonight!"

"Yeah, see you," he said as I ran after Korra.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going out with Bolin?" Korra asked, walking hunched-over down the hall.

"I can go out with him later. Right now, I want to be with you," I smiled.

"Why would you want to hang out with me?"

"Korra, I'm sorry if I've you've been feeling left out. We missed you, too, when you were working on the task force 24/7. I'm going to try to balance my time with you, with Bolin, and with our training, which, by the way, looks really good!"

"I can't even make a measly puff of air," Korra sighed.

"Look! You just airbended!" I said, pointing in front of her mouth. She started to laugh and I smiled, glad I could cheer her up. I managed to keep her spirits up the whole way home, which, to me, was a great achievement.

"So how are things going with your boyfriend? Have you kissed yet? Are you going to get married?" Ikki said, appearing so suddenly I dropped my bag. The heat rose to my face as she giggled, resulting in me chasing her at top speed.

"So, how's it going with the tall dreamy firebender boy? You've been spending a _lot_ of time together lately," Jinora said calmly as Ikki and I continued to race around.

"I don't think he likes me… he's all into that prissy, beautiful, rich girl," Korra said, filling the cage sadly.

"I just read this historical saga where the heroine fell in love with the enemy general's son who was already engaged! You should do what she did!"

"What did she do?" Korra asked hopefully.

"She rode a dragon into battle and burned down the entire country. Then she jumped into a volcano. It was _so_ romantic!"

"No no _no!_" Ikki said, stopping suddenly. "The best way to win a boy's heart is to brew a love potion of rainbows and sunsets that makes true lovers sprout wings and fly into a magical castle in the sky, where they get married and eat clouds with spoons and use stars as ice cubes in their moonlight punch. Forever and ever and ever!" She exclaimed, airbending up into the air out of excitement.

"The volcano is starting to look like a good option"

Suddenly, laughter erupted from behind me. I turned to see Pema standing there with a smile on her face.

"How long have you been standing there?" Korra asked.

"Long enough. But trust me, I know what you're going through. Years ago, I was in the same situation with Tenzin"

"Dad was in love with someone else before you?"

"That's right."

I had never thought about it. I had always just assumed they'd been together forever.

"So what did you do?" Korra asked.

"For the longest time, I did nothing. I was so shy and scared of being rejected, but watching my soul mate be with the wrong woman became too painful, so I confessed my love to Tenzin"

"_Wow_" we all gaped.

"And then what?"

"Well, then they broke up and we became a couple, got married, and started a family"

"That's so…" _sad… for her. _

"They had been unhappy for a long time— we're all better off this way," Pema said.

/

"Introducing our first team, the Future Industries Fire Ferrets!"

The bell rang and the match began. The Fire Ferrets were on fire, easily taking round one. Round two was in the bag, Korra and Mako tag teaming their way to victory. Round three took even less time, working like a well-oiled machine, the three of them took out the other team and the game was theirs.

"_Woohoo!_" I cheered. It wasn't long before Bolin burst into the locker room and I threw my arms around him. "That was _amazing!_ I can't believe how much you guys kicked butt out there!" I kissed him in the heat of the moment as he lifted me up into the air, spinning me around. When I was back on the ground my head was spinning, but not so much that I didn't notice Korra and Mako. _Did she just—_

"Congratulations, guys! You were so amazing out there!" Asami walked in, kissing Mako. Korra and Mako shared an uncomfortable look that confirmed my suspicions.

"Why don't we go out to celebrate, Korra?" I suggested.

"Yeah, I know this great watertribe place that has some great noodles!" Bolin said, joining in.

"It'll be fun," I teased in a singsong voice.

"You know what? I could use some fun! Count me in!"

So we left with a fleeting goodbye to Asami and Mako, headed for some delicious hot food. We took Naga to the restaurant, which was called Narook's Seaweed Noodlery.

"I didn't know Noodlery was a word," I said, mostly to myself, and repeated the new term out loud. _"_Noodlery. _Noodlery_. Nooooodlery."Korra and Bolin laughed. "What? It's fun to say!"

"So, what do you think of the food, Kazumi?" Bolin asked.

"It's delicious!" I smiled, blushing when I looked into his eyes.

"How does it measure up to the real deal, Korra?" he said, looking away before he blushed too much. I looked away too, only to have my eyes meet a very intense pair of eyes across the room.

"It's great and tastes really authentic! The chef must be water tribe," she reasoned, practically inhaling her food.

"Who's that creepy guy over there? _He's staring at us_," I whispered across the table to Bolin, trying to be inconspicuous.

"That's Tahno and the Wolfbats, champions three years running. Don't make eye contact!" Bolin exclaimed in a harsh whisper. Korra, however, did the opposite and met his gaze with a glare of her own. "Uh oh! He's coming over here! Don't mess with him— he's a nasty dude." He then occupied himself with his noodles. I found my eyes trailing up to Tahno's as he approached, leaning toward me.

"Well well, if it isn't the Fire Ferrets, the saddest excuse for pro-benders the tournament's ever seen," he said, his voice smooth like crude oil dripping from a pipe.

"He's just trying to bait you— one hit and you're out of the tournament," I whispered harshly, encouraging Korra to contain herself.

"And what is a pretty little specimen like you doing with these rodents?"

"If you are referring to the Ferrets, they aren't rodents. Ferrets are carnivorous mammals that hunt rodents like you and in case you haven't noticed, I am not under the same restrictions that they are. I can hunt freely." At this point, I had risen to my feet and was toe to toe with Tahno. Just when I thought I had him, he spoke.

"But you won't, will you, monk?"

"Want to find out?"

He stared at me curiously, a rolling sound coming from my mouth as I called for Lychee. Within moments, Lychee was on top of Tahno's head, messing up his perfectly gelled hair. He wailed and swung his hands at the creature atop his head, swatting away until he fell over. Lychee leapt from him and perched on my shoulder as Tahno's friends caught him. He attempted to keep his cool as he walked away, his hair in a perfect mess.

The moment he was gone, Korra and Bolin burst into laughter.

"I've never seen anyone mess with Tahno like that!" Bolin exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"I have to be honest, I never knew you had it in you!" Korra cheered once she caught her breath.

"I didn't either," I admitted, sitting down.

"I did," I looked up and saw Bolin smiling at me. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Well… I'm going to go back to Air Temple Island. You two kids have fun," Korra said, sliding out of the booth.

/

"The Fire Ferrets are about to take on the former and longest-reigning champs, the Boar-q-pines. Youth clashes against experience in a battle for the ages, or rather _of_ the ages!"

I watched as Korra, Mako, and Bolin collided against each other, failing miserably. What was going on with them? _Even when they're fighting together, they're fighting against each other!_ I moaned to myself as I watched Korra and Mako squabble their way to defeat.

Thanks to Bolin, they won round two, but it was close. When round three came around, they struck a tie and Bolin stepped forward to break it. Bolin went in for an attack, his opponent reversed. Bolin struck from midair, knocking him to the edge. One more hit and Bolin had him falling to the water below.

"The Future Industries Fire Ferrets win the quarterfinal match!"

The door opened and I ran into Bolin's arms, spinning around in glee.

"That was great, Bolin!"

"I couldn't have done it if you weren't here, Kazumi."

I got a little fuzzy feeling in my stomach then and it was all I could do to bury my foolishly grinning face in his shoulder. Why? Because I just knew that my face was about 50 shades of red right now.

"Let's go outside," _Where it's dark._ I grabbed his hand and lead him into the hall and out the door. When we opened it, however, our hands dropped to our sides in shock. _Korra and Mako are making out on the balcony!_ We inched backward and shut the door, turning our backs against it and letting this new information sink in. I looked over to Bolin who had the same quizzical look upon his face— how long have they been having an affair?


	6. And The Winner Is

**And the Winner Is...**

Bolin and I had kept our traps shut about what we saw, but I couldn't help but psychoanalyze Mako and Korra whenever they were in the same room or were brought up in conversation. They seemed to be showing all of the signs of "funny business," as I call it. They were shying away from each other, avoiding contact, and Mako was being awfully sweet to Asami. Too sweet.

So I followed him.

Maybe I was going too far, spying on him, but I had to know. I couldn't sit by while two of my best friends were committing relationship fraud. Not on my watch. Plus, he was being awfully suspicious, walking the streets alone. Why was he even over in this area? What business could he possibly have over here? Funny business, no doubt.

Suddenly, Lychee flew overhead and settled on my shoulder. Mako's eyes followed him, leading him straight to me.

"Kazumi? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just looking for Bolin. Have you seen him?"

"Yeah, he's looking for you. You didn't forget about your date, did you?"

Oops.

"Of course not! I just forgot where we were supposed to meet." Lychee flew around my head, urging me to follow him. "See you later, Mako!"

Lychee led me straight to Bolin, who hugged me upon arrival.

"Hey, where were you? You had me worried"

"Sorry, I was just keeping an eye on Mako. He was all the way past Central City Station-"

"Kazumi, he was looking for you. I told him you were missing and he offered to help!"

"Oh..."

"I think you're letting this Mako/Korra stuff go to your head. We can't get involved in their relationship, it's complicated enough without us getting in the middle"

"You're right, i'm sorry it got in the way of our relationship, Bolin," I apologized, feeling downright horrible for standing him up.

"Hey, no reason to be sad about it! It's not like it's the end of the world, Zumi!"

I grinned and we headed to the restaurant.

It was closed. I whistled, shaking my head.

"NOOOOOO!" Bolin cried in despair.

"Hey, no reason to be sad about it. It's not the end of the world, Bolin," I snickered.

"You don't understand! I need food!"

"And you'll get food, come on, get up..." I urged, practically picking him up myself. Aika landed nearby, and I helped Bolin climb on. Lychee and Pabu kept him entertained while I cooked him dinner.

"This is so good! I've never had food like this before"

"You've never had my cooking before," I grinned. Usually my siblings tease me about my cooking, but Bolin seemed to like it. It's not like I'm bad at cooking, i'm just... clumsy in the kitchen. Like the time I cut off part of my thumb, or left the pot of rice boiling until the water was all gone, or... you get the picture.

/

"You guys are going to wipe the floor with those pompous Wolfbats!" I said, egging them on. I've taken on the responsibility of wiping out any doubts and pumping the team up before the matches.

"Good morning, Republic City. This is Amon." My face fell as I turned toward the radio. Pabu squeaked and ran away, hiding behind Bolin. Lychee flew back and clutched to my back. "It's time for the city to stop worshiping benders as if they were heroes. This is a warning to the council: shut down the arena, cancel the match, or else there will be consequences."

The transmission cut to static.

"That guy's got some nerve!" Bolin exclaimed.

"Do you think the council is going to give in?" Mako asked.

"We have to do something!"

"We need to get to City Hall."

/

"Korra, you shouldn't be here!" Tenzin said, standing from his chair.

"Just here her out, Dad," I reasoned.

"You can't cancel the finals!"

"I know winning this is important to you, but we have to shut the arena down-"

"What about the rest of you? Tarrlok, surely you're not backing down"

"Actually, Korra, I agree with Tenzin"

"You of all people- you're backing down?"

"I will not put innocent lives at stake just so you and your friends can play a game"

"It's not just a game! Think of what it means to the city!" Mako said.

"It's the one place where benders and non-benders gather together in peace! To watch benders..." er...

"Beat each other up! In peace! It's an inspiration to everyone!" Bolin finished.

"If you close the arena, you're letting Amon win," Korra said.

"We've made our decision. This meeting is adjourned-" before Tarrlok could tap the gavel on the table, a cable knocked it out of his hands.

"I can't believe i'm saying this, but I agree with the Avatar," Chief Beifong said, standing between Korra and I. "It's time that the benders of this city displayed some strength and unity against these Equalists."

"We have to prevent this from escalating into a war. The council is not changing their position, Lin," Tenzin retorted.

"Hold on, Tenzin. Let's hear what our Chief of Police has to say," Tarrlok stepped in.

"If you keep the arena open, my metal-benders and I will provide protection."

"Are you saying you will personally take responsibility for the safety of spectators in the arena?" Tarrlok asked.

"Yes, I guarantee it."

"Well, it's hard to go against Chief Beifong's track record. If she says she can handle it, then i'm changing my vote. Who's with me?" Tarrlok turned to the rest of the council. The rest of the council changed their vote. The arena would remain open.

"Yeah!" Korra jumped into the air.

"Thank you!" I grinned, hugging Chief Beifong. She looked like she hasn't had one in a long time.

"A word, please, Lin," Tenzin said. I let go of her and turned to celebrate with the others.

"Hey, where did Chief Beifong go? I wanted to thank her," Korra said.

"I think they went this way," I said, leading her into a corridor where the two of them were arguing.

"You need to keep her away, Tenzin!"

"I know, i'll talk to her-"

They noticed us approaching and stopped short.

"Uh, Chief Beifong? I wanted to thank you for helping-" before she could finish, Chief Beifong had walked away. "What was all that about? What did I ever do to make her hate me?"

"It's not you she hates, it's-" he paused, "Her problem is with me."

Korra gasped, "It all makes sense now! You and Beifong- you were a couple!"

"You- you dated someone before mom?"

"What? How? Where did you get that idea?"

"Your wife," Korra smirked.

"Criminy! I'll have to have a word with her."

"So Pema stole you from Beifong. I'm surprised she didn't throw Pema in jail!" Korra said, folding her arms smugly. I was still trying to register the idea of Tenzin with anyone but Pema.

"Oh, she tried. Anyway, Pema didn't steal me- Lin and I had been growing apart for some time. We both had different goals in life- never-mind, I shouldn't be talking about this with you two."

"Hold on, I want to know what happened!" I exclaimed, curious about this part of his life he had never shared.

"No, no, it's much too long a story. quite boring. It happened a long time ago and we've moved past it."

"Apparently, Beifong hasn't," Korra retorted.

"Of- of course she has! There is nothing connecting us anymore! Anyway, this is none of your business!" he exclaimed, his face getting red, and turned to walk away quickly.

"See you at home, Mr. Heartbreaker!" Korra waved, laughing as she turned to walk away. "You really didn't know?"

"No... It never really came up. I just never thought that he could be with anyone but her, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand. My parents are perfect for each other- I can't even picture them being apart."

/

As I finished up my dinner, I stood to go get ready for the match.

"Where are you going? You have to help your mother with the dishes"

"I have to get ready for the match, it's starting soon"

"Absolutely not. It's far too dangerous. You're staying home."

"What? That's not fair!"

"I'm not going to put you in danger, Kazumi."

"But I have to support the Fire Ferrets!"

"You can listen on the radio if you must, but you are not leaving this house," he said, gripping his teacup tightly.

"But dad-"

"You're not coming tonight, and that's final!" he said firmly, practically slamming his teacup on the table. The tension in the room was thick enough to spread on a dinner roll.

"Fine," I gritted my teeth, grabbing my dishes and stomping to the kitchen. I scrubbed my bowl in the sink, mumbling under my breath.

"Your father is just trying to protect you, sweetheart," Pema said, setting her dishes down on the counter and placing a warm hand on my back.

"I can handle myself. I'm almost a master airbender!"

"I know, Kazumi, but it's too risky. Besides, I need help cleaning," she said with a small smile, not that it made cleaning sound any more appealing.

/

"The anticipation is palpable as we are just moments away from the championship match."

The radio sat on the windowsill, the light wood contrasting with the night sky. I swept the perimeter of the room with a mop, my arms moving routinely, but my ears honed in on the match.

"Will the Wolfbats' ferocity help them repeat as champs? Or will the underdog Fire Ferrets serve up a surprising bowl of smackdown soup?"

The bell rang, signaling the beginning of the match.

"Tahno tries to clean the Avatar's clock with some dirty water boxing."

Of course the Wolf Bats were playing dirty. And here I am, cleaning my room, while the match of the season is happening just across the bay.

Round two ended in a tie-breaker between Korra and Tahno. I stopped my mopping to listen to this one. "Come on, Korra..."

"Round two goes to the Fire Ferrets!"

"Yes!" I cheered, jumping into the air. My mop fell to the ground, reminding me that I was supposed to be cleaning. As I picked it up, I spotted something outside of my window. It was a ship. A giant ship in the sky. "What the...?"

"Folks, there is some kind of electrical disturbance in the stands... Metalbenders are dropping like bumbleflies... There appear to be masked people weilding some sort of device on their hands."

I dropped my broom.

"One of them is in the booth with me right now. I believe he is about to electrocute me. I am currently wetting my pants."

I ran to get my staff, only I had moved it in order to clean. I ran around the house in a frenzy, cursing to myself, swearing to never clean my room again. Finally, I found my staff and leapt out of the window, almost knocking the radio over in the process. I flew as fast as I could, hoping I could get there in time.

The aircraft shot metal cords down through the glass dome of the arena. I dove in, taking advantage of the new opening. As I dove, I passed Amon and his men, who were slowly being raised by the cords. My eyes locked with his, even hidden behind his mask, I could feel the cold weight of his stare. I glared back at him, but tore away when I heard Korra screaming. She was falling.

"Grab on!" I shouted, flying next to her. She grabbed onto me just in time for me to pull up and avoid hitting the ground head-first.

"Amon! He's escaping!" Korra exclaimed.

"Not on my watch!" I shot straight up at Amon. Korra leapt off when we were at equal height to them. She underestimated their speed, however, and only managed to grab onto the ankle of one of them, sending him falling down onto the roof.

Chief Beifong had made her way onto the roof and attached herself to the aircraft. I was glad she was going after Amon, because I had to go back to help Korra, who was now fighting the equalists on the roof by herself.

I landed on the roof only to find the equalists had been expecting me, giving me no time to react. The only thing to do was dodge, for they were prepared to fight me. Out of nowhere, my arm went limp and I dropped my staff. Another equalist had attacked me from behind. As I turned to address my additional opponent, I realized I could no longer block attacks and was hit again. I jumped into the air and came down with a kick, knocking one of them out and knocking down the other.

The only problem with this was that I hit the glass with too much force, and it shattered.

I was falling.

Usually this wouldn't be a problem for me, but I soon realized that I couldn't airbend, which meant I couldn't stop myself from falling.

So I screamed.

Out of nowhere, a metal cord wrapped around my waist. It jerked me back, and I was flying. Swinging from this cord, no longer approaching death. The wind blew my hair back as my ability to breathe returned.

The cord released me as we approached the ground. I rolled to a stop, finally still once more.

"Are you alright?" Chief Beifong asked, helping me up. Feeling began to return to my arms. Falling to your death can do that.

"Yeah, thanks for saving me," I said, well aware that by doing so, Amon probably got away.

"Just try to stay out of trouble from now on," she said, looking away.

"Kazumi!" pounding footsteps grew closer. I turned to find Bolin fast approaching, engulfing me in a hug. "You're here! You're okay!"

"I couldn't miss all the fun," I sniggered.

"Kazumi!" Tenzin exclaimed, a convoluted expression on his face. I broke away from Bolin to hug him. "What are you doing here? Are you okay? I can't believe you disobeyed me! You're not hurt, are you?"

"I'm glad you're okay," I said, burying myself in his embrace. I felt him relax, letting go of his anger.

"Me too."


	7. The Aftermath

**The Aftermath**

"I can't believe they might fire Chief Beifong," I said sadly, "she saved my life."

"I thought she was resigning," Bolin said, packing his stuff into a box. I shook my head, covering my face with my hands.

"I just can't believe they're shutting this place down," Mako said.

"Guys, good news!" Korra ran in, "I talked to Tenzin and he said you can stay with us on Air Temple Island!"

"We'd love to, but..." Mako's expression faded.

"We've already accepted Asami's invitation to stay at her mansion. Nothing but the lap of luxury for us, now!" Bolin cheered.

"Oh, Hey Korra," Asami walked in, "I was hoping you would stop by."

"I was just leaving. I guess i'll see you guys later."

"Why not tomorrow? You can come to the estate," Asami offered.

"I've got airbending practice," Korra said.

"But Kazumi's coming, right?" Bolin said, turning to me.

"I guess we could move tomorrow's practice to tonight"

"Yey!" Bolin cheered, hugging me. "We're going to have so much fun! Please come, Korra!"

"Alright," she said, cracking an amused smile. "I've got an Avatar thing, but i'll see you at dinner, Kazumi." I nodded and smiled.

"Great! We'll see you tomorrow!" Asami smiled, clapping her hands together in resolution.

/

"You're improving," I smiled reassuringly.

"No i'm not," Korra said, plopping onto the ground in defeat.

"Korra," I said softly, my voice nearly cracking as I looked down at her sorry state. "You are the strongest person I have ever met. It might take longer than you'd like, but you're master airbending, I just know it."

"Thanks, Kazumi," she smiled up at me. "There's just one thing, though..."

"Yeah?"

"When I said "I have airbending practice," that meant "I don't want be around Mako and Asami."

"Oh... okay. I'll remember that. Next time, i'll go along with it, I promise."

"Thanks, Twinkle-Toes," she said, squishing me in one of her polar bear hugs.

"Anytime, Hothead."

/

"Earthbending bomb!" Bolin announced, leaping into the air and landing with a belly-flop.

"Oh, please. Airbender ball!" I shouted, leaping about twenty feet into the air, curling into a ball, and diving into the water. I grinned as I surfaced, "I win!"

Bolin scrunched up his nose and put his hand on my head, pushing me beneath the surface. I waved my arms around, finally deciding that faking passing out was my only chance of escaping. I could sense him panicking, pulling away and lifting me out of the water and onto the edge of the pool. "Kazumi! Kazumi, can you hear me?"

It took all the restraint I had to not break my poker face.

"Kazumi! Does anyone know CPR?"

"You know CPR!" Mako shouted.

"Oh, right..." as soon as his lips met mine, I began to kiss him back. Then, as he realized his mistake, I flipped him over and into the water.

"Kazumi: 2 - Bolin: 0"

"Looks like you guys are having fun," Korra said.

"Hey, Korra!" I waved, but was splashed by Bolin, leaving me sputtering.

"Korra! Glad you could make it!" Asami said.

"Good to see you," Mako said.

"Welcome to paradise!" Bolin grinned, but was soon attacked by a wild airbender.

"So what do you have planned for today? Shopping, makeovers..."

"Ooh! Ooh! I vote makeovers!" Bolin said.

"I vote shopping!" I said, jumping out of the water.

"Actually, I had something a little more exciting in mind..."

We dried off, put our clothes on, and followed Asami to her family's racetrack.

"Wow! Way cooler than a makeover!" Korra exclaimed.

"Speak for yourself," Bolin mumbled.

"This is where we test our Satomobiles. Ever been behind the wheel?"

"The only thing I know how to drive is a polar bear dog," Korra said.

"Want me to take you for a spin?"

"Would I ever!" Korra grinned.

"Do any of you guys know how to drive?"

"I know how to fly!" I said.

"I can," Mako said, the more reliable candidate.

"Perfect. You and Bolin get in that Satomobile and Korra and I will race you in this one."

"What about me?" I asked.

"I bet you can beat us without one, Kazumi. I've seen you with your glider before- you're amazing."

I grinned sheepishly, suddenly excited for a race.

"Ready?" the man called, raising the flag. "Set!" I popped open my glider, taking grip. "Go!"

Asami fell behind Mako and Bolin, but pulled up next to them as I flew beside the two Satomobiles. Mako and Asami were neck and neck, now. Finally, she sped ahead of them. They tried to catch up, but his front wheel and Asami's back wheel touched and his car started swaying. I got distracted, worried they were going to spin out of control, and lost focus. Asami pulled ahead, winning the race.

"That was amazing! I didn't think we were going to make it!" Korra exclaimed. "I have to admit, I had you all wrong."

"That's alright, people usually assume i'm daddy's helpless little girl, but I can handle myself."

"Let's do that again!" Bolin said as he got out of the Satomobile, took a few wobbly steps, and fell backwards into the seat.

/

"Emergency! Emergency! Coming through, beep beep!" Bolin said, racing to the bathroom.

"Um... is there another bathroom?"

"There's a powder room upstairs," Asami gestured.

"Thanks," Korra said and headed upstairs.

"Nice place you've got here! Way different from my home on Air Temple Island"

"Thanks. I'd love to see Air Temple Island one day. Air Nomad culture has always fascinated me. Plus, the bay view has got to be amazing."

"Yeah, it is," I smiled, "you're always welcome to come visit, Asami! I'm sure my parents would love to have you over for dinner."

Suddenly, Korra came stomping down the stairs, in a bee-line for the door.

"You're leaving?" Asami said.

"Uh, sorry! I forgot i'm supposed to airsit, I mean babybend, I- I mean babysit the airbender kids. See you later!"

"What was all that about?" Bolin said, turning to me. I shrugged, "I guess mom and dad wanted to go out and needed her to watch the kids." I honestly had no idea, but I tried to cover for her. "They're pretty crazy, maybe I should help her out. I'll see you guys later!" I said, running after Korra.

"Korra! Wait up! Tell me what's wrong," I said, catching up to her.

"Asami's father is working with the equalists."

"What?" I gasped, "And you worked that out during the five minutes you were in the bathroom?"

"I overheard him on the phone. He said that the investigation with Cabbage Corp bought him time. That he is going to strike by the end of the week."

/

"Hey Bolin! Want to go for a ride?"

"What do you mean?"

I pulled out my glider and popped it open.

"Oooooh"

"Hold on tight!" I pushed off and shifted to gain altitude.

"Wooohooo!" Bolin cheered from behind me. I smiled, glad he was having fun. He surely wouldn't be if we had stayed at Sato Mansion. Things were about to get ugly down there.

I landed on Air Temple island and Lychee immediately came and landed on his shoulder.

"Lychee!" He squealed. I laughed, leaning my glider against a tree.

"Do you trust me?"

"What?" he asked, caught off guard.

"Do you trust me?" I asked, holding my hand out. He nodded and took my hand. I started walking toward the edge of the island and, once he caught on, began to run. We leapt off the edge and, with a quick whistle for Aika, we were on her back, plunging into the bay. I looked over at Bolin, his eyes wide with thrill, his hand gripping mine as if it were the only thing holding him to this earth. Then, just as we reached the bottom and my ears began to scream, Aika kicked off the bottom and shot toward the surface. Bolin screamed as we passed the surface and were welcomed by strong, yet gentle, winds.

I pet Aika affectionately as she flew to the shore of the bay with ease. I formed two fists and locked them against each other, causing a great swirl of air to wrap around us and dry us off.

"That... was... AMAZING!"

"Glad you had fun," I smiled.

"It's getting late," Bolin said, looking up at the setting sun. "Mako's probably worried."

"I'm sure he's worked out where you are, or at least who you're with. Why don't we go inside, it's about time for dinner."

"Food," Bolin clutched his stomach, which seemed to grumble on command. We headed inside to find everyone at the table except Tenzin.

"Is it alright if Bolin stays for dinner?" I asked Pema.

"Of course, Kazumi. Please, make yourself at home, Bolin," she said warmly.

"Thanks, Mrs... Kazumi's mom"

"Call me Pema"

/

"Aw, I hate papaya," I pouted.

"Want to switch bowls?" Bolin asked.

I grinned, "Thanks, I love mango!"

"And I love papaya," Bolin grinned.

"Quit with the mushy stuff, i'm right here, you know," Mako said.

"Look who's talking! You two were eskimo kissing not five minutes ago!"

Mako pouted and Asami giggled. Suddenly, metalbender cops burst into the living room.

"What are you doing here?" Asami said angrily.

"We have reason to believe there is a factory below the mansion," Chief Beifong said.

"I think I would know if there was a factory beneath my house," she barked.

"Where is your father?"

"In his workshop out back."

We all walked in a group, the metalbenders creating a protective perimeter around us.

"Dad?" Asami called as we entered, but the place was empty. Chief Beifong stepped forward and stomped her bare foot on the ground, then shouted "There's a tunnel beneath the workshop that goes deep into the mountainside."

"How did she figure that?" I asked Tenzin.

"It's a skill passed down in the Beifong family," he said as she ripped a giant sheet of the floor up, revealing a stairwell leading into the earth.

"I- I don't understand," Asami said, taking a step back.

"Maybe you don't know everything about your father. I'm sorry, Asami," Korra said.

"Officers, into the tunnel. Be cautious." Beifong ordered. We began to walk toward the tunnel, but she stopped us. "You four stay up here. Officer Song, keep an eye on them."

I crinkled my nose, annoyed that I was once again put on the sidelines. Who does Beifong think she is, telling me what to do?

Suddenly, there was a loud noise resonating from deep within the tunnel.

"What was that?" Bolin asked.

"We need to get down there," Mako said.

"Absolutely not. You're staying put until the chief comes back," Song said firmly.

"Man, this stinks," I kicked a stray pebble on the ground.

"Kazumi! Stop kicking up dust! I'm aller- ACHOO!" Mako sneezed, the flames causing Song to stumble backwards. He tripped over Bolin's earthbending. Bolin jumped on him and we tied him up. "Sorry pal, we know you were just doing your job."

"Yeah, just stay put until the chief comes back. That sounds familiar doesn't it, why? Because you said it," Bolin mocked.

"Let's go," I said, heading for the tunnel.

"What's with this?" Mako said as we approached a metal wall, preventing us from moving further. Behind it, the sounds of a battle ensued.

"Bolin, can you...?"

"I'm on it," he said, earthbending a tunnel under it. I hopped in after him, and he quietly slid it open on the other side.

"Korra was right! We have to do something," Mako whispered. Korra, Lin, Tenzin, and all of the metalbenders were unconscious, some being moved into a truck to go to Amon. There were big metal machines being maneuvered around by equalists, and judging by the casualties, we should avoid being noticed. We snuck out of our hiding place and moved toward the three of them. Bolin grabbed Tenzin, Mako grabbed Korra, and I grabbed Lin. This may have been the wrong choice, for her metal armor was pretty heavy.

"Not so fast," Mr. Sato said, catching us.

"Hello, Mr. Sato! What a nice, scary factory you have here," Bolin said, using Tenzin's arms to gesture.

"Sponsoring our team, supporting the Avatar... it was all a lie," Mako said, betrayed.

"Yes, and the most difficult part was watching my daughter be with a street rat firebender like you!" he conducted electricity in his glove and moved toward us, his glare locked with Mako's.

"Dad, stop!" Asami pleaded. Hiroshi was surprised, and stopped to turn to his daughter. "How could you?"

"Asami, darling, I wanted to keep this from you as long as possible, but these benders took away your mother. They've ruined the world, but Amon can fix it and we can live together in a utopia. Join me, Asami."

I watched in horror as Asami took his offering- one of his electro gloves.

"No..."

"I love you, dad," she said sadly before electrocuting her father. I watched in amazement as she single-handedly took out the Lieutenant as well, and with such ease.

"K-Kazumi?" Chief Beifong began to regain consciousness.

"Let's get out of here!" I shouted, running toward the tunnel Bolin made. Bolin earthbended it shut behind us just in time, for the megatanks had noticed us. Once we got on the airship, I helped her onto a bench inside.

"My metalbenders are on their way to Amon and it's all my fault. Tarrlok's right- i've failed as a chief. First thing in the morning, i'm handing in my resignation."

"No, you can't give up!" I exclaimed adamantly.

"I'm not giving up. I'm going to find my officers and take Amon down. I'm going to do it my way- outside the law."


	8. When Extremes Meet

**When Extremes Meet**

I stood next to Korra, Tenzin, and my siblings on the edge of the island. A ferry approached, Bolin, Mako, and Asami were somewhere on it.

"I know the circumstances are less than ideal, but i'm excited to have them stay here," I said to Korra.

"Me too!" she grinned.

"Welcome to Air Temple Island, your new home!" Ikki cheered as the ferry pulled up. Air Acolytes approached to help unload their luggage.

"Welcome to my domain!" Meelo said with a goofy grin.

"Well aren't you sweet, little monk child," Bolin said. Pabu jumped down from his shoulder and ran off to chase Lychee, but not before circling around my legs. Bolin came and put his arm around me, watching the kids play with Pabu and Lychee.

"What's that fuzzy creature?" he asked.

"That's a fire ferret. An aboreal mammal common to the bamboo forest of the central Earth Kingdom," Jinora said.

"He's cute!" Ikki gasped, "Lychee! Come here!" Lychee landed on Ikki's shoulder, and Pabu followed. The two of them chased each other around her. Meelo's attention span caused him to move on to Naga, who he jumped onto.

"Yip yip! Fly, sky bison, fly!" he shouted, pulling on her ears.

"And now for the grand tour! The flying bison sleep in those caves down there, that's the temple Grandpa aang built, and that's the greenhouse where we grow the vegetables we eat." Ikki said, before running after Pabu.

"So, is this an all vegetarian island? Is that where you train airbending? Do we have to wear Air Acolyte clothes? Do we each get our own sky bison? And where are we going to be staying?"

"Yes, we're all vegetarians here. That is where we train airbending. You can keep your clothes. You do not get a sky bison. And-"

"-the men's dormitory is over there," Tenzin said, practically wedging himself between us. "Jinora, would you mind showing the boys to their dormitory?"

"Ooh! I'm a boy!" Bolin said, following Jinora.

"Meelo, why don't you go with?"

"We shall meet again soon, beautiful woman," Meelo said, bowing to Asami before running away.

"We'll take you to your room," Korra turned to Asami.

"Asami, did you know Korra likes Mako?" Ikki asked. My jaw dropped as Korra's eyes burned with flames.

"Oh," Asami said, "Uh, no, I wasn't completely aware of that..."

"Uhhhh Ikki, I think you should run now," I said cautiously.

"Huh?" she said, utterly clueless. I grabbed her hand and ran away, dragging her with me. "Hey!" she struggled, "what was that for?"

"Ikki! How could you say that?"

"It wasn't a lie!"

"No, but you didn't have to say it!"

"Mom said to always tell the truth," she said, trying to mimic a motherly tone, which sounded surprisingly like Jinora.

"Yes, but you shouldn't tell other people's secrets!"

"I'm telling mom you're being mean!" she said, heading for the house.

"Oh no you don't!" I said, chasing after her.

/

"Where's Korra?" Mako asked as he, Bolin, and Asami came up to my doorway.

"I haven't seen her since she got back from the new chief's induction ceremony." I sighed, "I have an idea."

I led them outside, soon finding Korra sitting on a ledge, looking out at the statue of Aang.

"Korra?" I said, approaching her.

"Are you okay?" Bolin asked.

"I'm fine," she said, wiping away tears.

"No, you're not," Mako said.

"How am I supposed to save the city when I can't even learn airbending? I'm the worst avatar ever! I just feel... alone."

"That's nonsense- you're amazing!" Asami exclaimed.

"Yeah, and remember, Aang hadn't mastered all of the elements when he was battling the Fire Nation. He was just a little kid!" Mako said.

"And he wasn't alone either- he had his friends to help him," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder.

"The arena might be shut down, but we're still a team. The new team Avatar!" Bolin cheered.

"We've got your back, Korra, and we're going to save the city," Mako said, putting his hand on her other shoulder. Bolin and Asami joined in. "Together."

"Yeah," Korra said, standing up, "let's do it!"

We put our hands together, ready to cheer, when Meelo airbended down, farting on top of our hands. "Yeah, let's do it! Uh, what are we doing?"

/

"Get ready Republic City, you're about to be patrolled by Team Avatar," Bolin said as Asami put the Equalist glove on her hand.

"I figure one way to fight Equalists is with an Equalist weapon," she smirked, jumping behind the wheel. Korra jumped in next to her, Mako and Bolin took the back, and I sat on the back of the car, my legs inbetween the boys. Being able to "fly," as some put it, I was the safest to ride without a seatbelt. Plus, I get the bonus of the wind flowing through my hair, a feeling I was quite accustomed to.

"Unit two sixteen, cancel that ten fifty-eight at Harmony Tower. Come back to the station, over." The radio sounded, cutting off into static.

"My dad had police scanners installed in all of his cars. I guess now I know why." Asami said, before the static cut again.

"Calling all units, Level Four Alert. Jailbreak at headquarters. Officers down, electrocuted, Chi Blockers and Equalist convicts at large and dangerous!"

Asami hit the breaks, and I went flying forward, Mako and Bolin reaching their arms out to stop me from hitting anything.

"Chi Blockers!" Korra exclaimed. Asami changed gears and began to chase them. She dodged cars with ease, tailing the chi blockers, until a truck blocked her way.

"Give me a ramp!" she shouted. Bolin and Korra earthbend a ramp that sends the car soaring into the air. I created a cushion of air to help us land safely so we could resume our chase. Mako used lightning to strike one of the chi blockers. Bolin sent earth darts at them. I sent the falling cyclists to the side, creating a clear path for Asami. The chi blockers used a smoke screen, but I easily swept it aside, clearing the air between us.

"We have to make this turn!" she exclaimed. Korra and Bolin earthbend a giant curve to help us turn without slowing down. Asami rammed into a bunch of equalists, some of them flying into the car with us. I airbended one of them out of the car, tossing him onto the road. An equalist struck Bolin in his arm, causing him to fall back in his seat, so I struck the equalist and tossed him out of the car. Another equalist jumped inside, pushing me to the side, and attempting to toss Mako out. I fell over Bolin, my top half hanging over the side of the car. Bolin used his good arm to pull me back before I fell.

Asami pulled up to the equalist truck and Mako electrocuted the driver. The truck swerved and hit a lamp post. I jumped out and hit an escaping equalist in the neck, causing him to pass out. Bolin pulled the driver out and tossed him on top of the other one in a body pile. I used airbending to send the other fallen equalists flying toward us, their unconscious bodies in a big pile, waiting for the authorities to come and tie them up.

Korra grinned as Tarrlok came up to us. "What do you think you are doing, Avatar Korra?"

"Oh, hey, Tarrlok. Nice of you to finally show up. Don't worry, we captured all of the escaped convicts for you."

"What you did was tear up the city, impede the real authorities, and wreck havoc!"

"Hm, that's funny, I didn't see you or your little task force here. If it wasn't for Team Avatar, they would have gotten away."

"This is your last warning. Stay out of my way!" he stomped off, but we just smiled in victory.

/

We were sitting and eating dumplings and veggies when the radio started buzzing.

"All available units to the fifty six hundred block of Dragon Flats borough. Armed equalists are at large, proceed with caution.

"I call front!" Bolin and I said in unison. Instead of arguing, Bolin jumped in and I sat on his lap.

"After you," Mako said to Korra, holding the door open for her. Asami adjusted the rear-view mirror, glaring back at them. I pretended not to notice, and focused on the road ahead.

"Why is the power out?" Korra asked as we approached a giant rally f non-benders protesting against the police.

"Wait a second, these people aren't armed or dangerous," I said, confused.

"Non-benders, return to your homes immediately," Saikhan, the new chief, announced.

"As soon as your turn our power back on!" a man yelled.

"Disperse, or you'll be arrested," Saikhan announced.

"You benders can't treat us this way!" a woman exclaimed, her child tugging at her skirt.

"Mummy, look! It's the Avatar!"

"Please, help us! You're our Avatar, too!" the woman pleaded.

Korra strode forward, pushing two metalbenders aside. "Please stay calm, i'll take care of this," she said, turning to Tarrlok and the others. "Tarrlok, you need to turn the power back on and leave these people alone."

"Avatar Korra, you and your playmates have no business here."

"We're not going anywhere, you don't have the right to treat these innocent people like criminals!" I exclaimed.

"This is an Equalist rally, there's nothing innocent about it."

"They're not Equalists, they're just normal people who want their rights back!" Asami said, standing up to him.

"They are the enemy!" He growled angrily, "Round up all these Equalists!"

Metalbending officers began to earthbend, herding them with barriers. They screamed as they were lifted from the ground. Those not caught ran away, scattering. Korra earthbended them back to the ground. I ran forward to help the kids climb over the barrier and escape.

"You're under arrest!" Tarrlok exclaimed. I turned around to find myself being restrained by a metalbender.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. Bolin ran to help me, but was arrested, himself. Tarrlok grabbed Asami, arresting her as well. Mako was restrained by another officer.

"Let them go, Tarrlok!" Korra shouted, earthbending a couple of large boulders and hovering them over Tarrlok.

"Unless you want to join your friends in prison, I suggest you put those down and go back to the Air Temple."

"Listen to him, Korra. It's not worth it." Mako said.

"Tell dad what happened, he'll get us out of this mess," I said, trying to look calm. My father was going to kill me.

"Don't worry, I won't let you down," Korra said, dropping the boulders to the side.

"We'll be alright," Mako assured her as we were loaded into the truck. As soon as it shut, it went completely black. Before long, someone began to sob.

"Don't cry Asami, it'll be alright," Mako said.

"Uh, that's not me..." she said.

"I'm not cut out for prison!" Bolin cried.

"Don't worry, Korra will get us out of this in no time."


	9. Out Of the Past

**Out Of The Past**

"Sorry about Ikki. Sometimes she can be a little but... much."

"That's alright, it's what little sisters do. Not that I would know first hand or anything," Asami replied, lounging on her cot.

"What I would give to be an only child, just for one day," I sighed.

"Are you kidding? You have it made! You have a whole family, an island full of people that love you. I'm all by myself."

"You have Mako," I said, kicking my legs in the air, playing with my toes out of boredom.

"Yeah..." she sighed, lost in thought.

"You have me, too, of course. And Bolin and Korra. We're a family."

"Get up, i'm busting you out." Lin said, suddenly appearing at our door, ripping it off its hinges and tossing it away.

"And Lin!" I grinned, jumping off of my cot in glee. I ran and hugged her, "Thank you!"

"Come on, let's go save your boyfriends," she said in her usual cut-and-dry voice. I jumped up and down as Asami joined us.

"Thanks, I owe you," she said, speeding up to a trot. We arrived to find Mako standing by the front of the cell, his hands over his ears.

"Asami!" he exclaimed. Bolin squeaked in the background. Lin broke off the door and Asami ran in to kiss Mako. I ran to embrace Bolin, but he appeared to be... busy. I squeaked myself, covering my heated face with my hands and turning around.

"Hate to break up the reunion, but we have an Avatar to rescue."

"Wait- what happened to Korra?" I exclaimed, no longer embarrassed.

"She's been captured by Amon."

"No," Mako said with a start, "We have to save her!"

/

We burst into Tenzin's office, where he sat on the phone. He looked surprised to see us, but the expression quickly passed.

"I have to go. Call me back the minute you hear anything," he said quickly, hanging up. "Kazumi!"

"Dad!" I ran forward, hugging him as he stood to greet me.

"What are you doing here? You should be in prison, and Lin, you should be in the hospital!"

"I figured you could use our help finding Korra," she said firmly, quite proud of her actions. I noticed her police badge was missing from her uniform.

"Do you have any leads?" Mako asked Tenzin, stepping forward anxiously.

"No, not yet."

"What about Naga? She can track Korra from her scent, right?" I said hopefully, looking up at him.

"I'm afraid her polar bear dog is missing as well. My guess is that they're somewhere underground."

"Just like my father's factory, how predictable," Asami scoffed, although clearly hurting.

"Yeah, that makes sense!" Bolin exclaimed, "When those chi-blockers had me in their truck, it sounded like we drove in a tunnel!"

"I know where to start!"

/

Lin metalbended the gate open and we ran into the tunnel. Mako used his firebending to bring light to the situation.

"This way," Mako said, turning down a tunnel.

"What if Korra's not down there?" Asami said.

"Then we pick another tunnel until we find her!" he snapped. Asami looked hurt and stopped walking for a moment. She started moving again when she came by Bolin's side.

"Hey, is Mako alright? He seems really worried about Korra."

"Yeah, we all are," Bolin said casually.

"I know, but he's your brother. Do you think he likes Korra as more than a friend?" Asami pushed. I know you know something, Bolin. Spill!"

"W-what? No! That's just gossip! Where'd you hear that? Crazy talk, that is! All they did was kiss-" I stopped walking, causing us to collide and stopping Bolin from finishing his sentence, but the message got across.

"They... kissed?" she said in shock, staring at Mako. Before the conversation could go any further, the sound of motorcycles became apparent.

An equalist on a motorcycle drove up, somehow triggered an opening mechanism for a door, and left, the door shutting behind him. Lin ran out and metalbended the door open. We moved swiftly and quietly as we approached the equalists.

"Everything was delivered to the prison, sir," an equalist said, reporting to their superior.

"That must be where Korra is!" Tenzin whispered.

"We need to get down there," Lin said, signaling with her hands to run to the tram and jump in. We hid inside as the tram moved down the tunnel. We jumped out, hiding in the shadows. A light flashed as the tram arrived.

While the equalists were distracted by the empty tram, Lin sent a metal cable to grab the equalists and drag them into the tunnel.

"Keep an eye on them," she said, using her seismic sense to search the prison.

"I wish I could do that," I mumbled, jealous of her awesome ability. All my feet did was ache when I walk for too long.

"Is Korra inside?" Mako said urgently.

"I don't know," she said, "let's go- not you, Kazumi. You stay here with Bolin."

I crossed my arms and huffed in distaste. I watched them go, all but Bolin and I standing over a couple of equalists.

"Having Tenzin as a dad stinks sometimes."

"Maybe, but he's just trying to keep you safe," Bolin pointed out.

"So he left me with you," I smiled.

"Well," Bolin boasted, flexing his muscles.

"I meant because you care about me, not because you're strong. Not that it hurts," I smirked.

All of the sudden, a siren sounded. I jumped, alert and ready to fight.

"Let's go!" Bolin shouted as everyone ran into view. "Into the tram!"

We jumped in and took off. Bolin used earthbending to trap the equalists and prevent them from following us.

"Try to chi-block that, fools!" Bolin exclaimed, jubilant.

"We've got company!" I shouted, the pitch of my voice getting higher as they grew closer.

"Hang on!" Lin shouted, metalbending the rail to raise toward the ceiling. She earthbended a hole in the ceiling and we flew through it. We slammed on the ground, shaking our bodies around like pinballs.

"We have to get to City Hall. Now." Lin said with a tone of authority only she could have. I tried to follow her orders, but I ended up walking in the wrong direction due to my dizziness.

"Kazumi, this way," Bolin said, grabbing my arm and giving me a good directional tug.

We ran as fast as we could, for reasons unknown to me. They must have found something interesting while they were in there. Certainly not Korra.

/

"Thank you all for meeting on such short notice," Tenzin said formally as we entered City Hall.

"Chief," Lin addressed Chief Saikhan curtly.

"Lin," he nodded abruptly.

"Do you have any news on Korra?" Tarrlok asked, feigning concern.

"Yes," Tenzin said, stepping forward and raising his hand to point accusingly, "You kidnapped her, Tarrlok!"

"What? I'm shocked you would accuse me of such a thing! I told you, Equalists attacked and took her!" he said innocently, but I was getting bad vibes from him.

"There were no chi-blockers. You planted the evidence, Tarrlok!" Tenzin accused, pointing at him.

"That is ridiculous!" Tarrlok shouted, infuriated.

"It's true! He took her!" a mousy voice said from above. I looked up and saw the council page cowering from behind a pillar. "When I was leaving last night, I saw councilman Tarrlok bring Avatar Korra down to the garage."

"That's nonsense!" Tarrlok yelled, "You're nothing but a squeaky-voiced liar!"

"Why did you wait until now to fess up?" Lin asked, crossing her arms.

"I was scared because... Tarrlok is a bloodbender! He bloodbent Avatar Korra!"

My eyes widened in Korra. I had heard about bloodbending. It was a terrible form of waterbending and was illegal in Republic City.

"Tell us where you took Korra," Tenzin said, taking a stance, focused on Tarrlok. I followed suit, taking an airbender stance against him. The others took defensive stances as well, prepared to take on Tarrlok. Suddenly, I felt as if my whole body were crying out in pain, and my voice only echoed the agony. My blood was on fire, still, yet expanding within my very veins. I was no longer in control of my body, I was frozen, only moving in short spasms as I attempted to regain control. I began to slip into unconscious, my vision going red, then black, and then the pain was gone.

My eyes seemed to be pulsing, my body sore, my head reeling, as if I were dehydrated.

"Wake up!" I heard Lin's voice, followed by a slapping sound. I squirmed, rolling over to see everyone wrestling with consciousness. Remembering the situation, I shot up.

"Bolin, wake up," I said, shaking him.

"Five more minutes," he mumbled sleepily, rolling over.

"Bolin!" I persisted, shaking him again.

"Oh, Kazumi, I had this awful dream that Korra was avatar-napped by this evil bloodbender." He said, completely oblivious to what just happened.

"That wasn't a dream, Bolin. He just knocked us out."

"Seriously?" He shot up, looking around. "Where is he?"

"He escaped," Saikhan said, "I'll alert the force." He and the other council members left.

"We can still pick up his trail," Lin said determinedly, "Let's go."

/

"You four take your sky Bison, Kazumi. Tenzin, we need to talk," Lin said, a tone of finality in her voice as she approached Oogi.

"Ooh, someone's in trouble," Bolin whispered scandelously.

So we split up, Tenzin and Lin on Oogi, and my friends and I on Aika. After a while, we heard a howl that sounded familiar. Naga.

"Down there!" Mako shouted. I too kus down, landing by Korra, who lay limply over Naga's back. Aika landed and I immediately jumped off, running to Korra.

"Korra! Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.

"Where's Tarrlok?" Bolin asked, alert to danger.

"Hey, give her some space!" Mako said, stepping ahead of me and picking up Korra. He began to walk back to Aika, placing Korra carefully on her back. I watched Mako comfort Korra with his soft words and Asami's hurt expression as she watched the man she loves love someone else.


	10. Turning The Tides

**Turning The Tides**

Tenzin and I walked into him room, where Pema and the kids lay curled up on the bed. I sat down on the edge while he kneesed and placed his hand on Pema's stomach. They opened their eyes at our presence.

"Daddy! Zumi! You're home!" Jinora wrapped her arms around me. "Did you find Korra? Is she okay?"

"Yes, she's fine," he said, picking up Ikki and hugging her.

"I was scared, I thought she wasn't coming back," Ikki murmured, her tone revealing the fear she had felt.

"I'm sorry, Ikki, but everything is going to be okay now. I promise."

I kissed Jinora on the forehead and held her close as she nuzzled into the crook of my neck.

"Would you feel better if you slept in my room tonight, Jini?" I asked. She nodded.

"Me too!" Ikki said, jumping onto my back. I smiled and carried them to my room.

"You two can stay in my bed. I'm staying in Korra's room so I can keep an eye on her." I grabbed a mat from my closet and went to Korra's room, only to find Mako was still there, watching over her intently. "I got it from here, Mako," I said, relieving him of his duties. "Get some rest."

/

"This food is amazing, Pema," Korra said between bites.

"Well, it's been a while since you've eaten and you've been through a lot," Pema said bashfully.

"Don't be modest, you're a great cook!"

"Thanks, Korra," she smiled, "I'm just glad you're home safe."

"Here, let me help," Asami offered as Pema reached for Korra's empty plate.

"I know it's been tough, but I need you to tell me what happened," Tenzin said gently.

"Well, first of all, Tarrlok is Yakone's son," Korra said.

"It all makes sense now," Lin said, over her shock much more than my open-mouthed parents. "That's how he bloodbended without a full moo."

"But how did you escape?" I asked. "And what happened with Tarrlok?"

"Amon captured him and took his bending."

"What?" Tenzin asked, shocked.

"Yeah, he came out of nowhere. He almost got me, too."

"Taking out a councilman, almost capturing the Avatar... I fear Amon is entering his endgame."

Bolin, Korra, Mako, and I exchanged looks of concern. Something big was about to go down, but what was he planning?

"You're out of tea, i'll go get some more hot water," Mako volunteered, taking the teapot.

"Ooh! I want some too!" I said eagerly.

"I'll get enough," Mako said, heading for the kitchen.

"We can talk more later, just rest for now," Tenzin said and placed his hand on Korra's shoulder as he stood to leave.

Instead of Mako with a teapot, Asami was the one who returned from the kitchen, and she looked pissed and... heartbroken.

"I'm going to go for a walk in the courtyard," I said, standing to make an escape.

"I'll come with," Bolin said, following in my footsteps. "Whew, that could have been bad," he said, once we were in the clear.

"Shhh," I said, pulling him behind a bush.

"What?" he whispered. I pointed discreetly toward Tenzin and Lin, who stood not far from us.

"Lin, um, I- I need to ask you a favor. It would mean the world to me... although it may be awkward..."

Bolin and I leaned forward eagerly, waiting to hear whatever juicy secrets were about to be spilt.

"Just spit it out!" Lin barked.

"Will you stay here and watch over Pema and the kids while I meet with the council?"

"I can't believe you're asking me to do this," she said, turning enough for her face to be out of view.

"I know you said you didn't want anything to do with her, but she'll be safe with you here. There's no one I trust more with this than you, Lin."

"I'll do it," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "She isn't so bad."

I couldn't see their faces, but it seemed to be a pretty intense conversation. I guess that they really did date, back before Tenzin and Pema were together.

"Thanks. I think you and Kazumi are more alike that you think," he smiled warmly. My eyes popped open, Bolin's jaw dropping.

"No way, you don't think...?"

"I didn't realize you two were out here," Pema's voice startled me. Every muscle in my body froze at once. We were caught spying.

"Pema! Yes, Lin has agreed to help out around here and keep an eye on things while i'm away," Tenzin said, startled. I relaxed a little when I realized she was talking about Tenzin and Pema, not Bolin and I.

"Great! Meelo could use a bath," Pema said, dropping my stinky brother into her arms. Tenzin leapt onto Oogi, ready to go.

"Thank you Lin! Yip yip!"

"Hey! This is not what I signed up for!" Lin protested as Meelo farted.

"I gotta poo!" Lin held him farther from him, "Really bad!"

Lin quickly metalbended a cable around his waist to avoid touching the soiled child, hurriedly carrying him away.

Bolin spoke softly, but I wasn't listening to his words. I was staring at my father as he flew farther and farther away. Could it be that all this time...?

"Kazumi... Kazumi... Kazumi," Bolin shook my shoulder.

"Hm?" I said, blinking back from my thoughts.

"Let's go inside, I think we should have a Team meeting"

"A Team meeting?"

"Yeah, you know, Team Avatar," Bolin said as we headed inside.

"Yeah, sure." I said as we entered the dining room again to find Korra and Mako drinking tea.

"Hey guys, where did you two run off to?" Mako asked.

"We overheard a conversation between Tenzin and Lin and... well..."

"Spit it out, Bolin. What did you hear?" Korra asked.

"Well... Tenzin and Lin, they used to be a thing, right?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah, so?" I asked.

"Well, they were talking about how Lin and Kazumi are really alike and..."

"You think they're related?" Mako asked.

"My dad did not cheat on Pema!" I snapped.

"Calm down, I didn't say he did," Mako reasoned.

"It sure sounded like it!"

"Well, there is a big age gap between you and your siblings. Maybe it happened before they got together?" Korra suggested.

"That's ridiculous! You're all crazy!"

"Think about it Kazumi," Mako said calmly.

"There's nothing to think about," I said through gritted teeth, walking out without another word. I heard the sounds of explosions in the distance and became alert.

"Kids, get inside, now!" Lin shouted. I ran outside, passing my siblings as they hurried inside.

"What's going on?" I asked, all feelings from before replaced with the overwhelming duty of protecting my family and home.

"Republic City is under attack," Lin said, watching as Equalist airships approached the island. It wasn't long before everyone ran out to see what was going on.

"Where did you say you parked the car, Korra?" Asami asked.

"It's right around... there!" Korra said, pointing toward a Satomobile wrapped around a pole. It wasn't that bad, but apparently Korra's driving was.

"Wow, nice parking," Asami said sarcastically.

"Hey, you guys got arrested and left me alone with the car! I made it very clear I don't know how to drive." she said innocently.

"Considering, you did a great job!" Bolin congratulate, "but what about all these parking tickets?"

"The city is under attack. There are more important things to worry about." Mako said, brushing it off. Asami jumped into the driver's seat, Mako following.

"Why don't you sit in the back with Korra?" Asami said, glaring disdainfully at him.

"I think I will," he said, turning away. I could feel the tension in the air and I really just wanted to run away. They were like a ticking time bomb.

"Come on Kazumi," Bolin said, sitting in the passenger seat. I climbed in and he shut the door behind me. Asami slammed on the gas, her emotions clearly coming out in her driving. I hope dad is okay, wherever he is.

We pulled up to city hall right in time. We jumped out of the car and took on mecha tanks and Equalists alike. My eyes were peeled in search for Tenzin. I narrowed my eyes when I saw him, being carried into a truck by Equalists. "No way is Amon getting him," I growled, leaping forward. I came lunging down from above, taking out two of the Equlists instantly. They didn't know what hit them.

"Dad!" I shouted, shaking his shoulder. Asami appeared behind me, fighting off Equalists as I tended to my dad.

"Kazumi? What are you doing here?" he said groggily, rubbing his head.

"Saving your butt, now get up!" I pulled his arm, helping him up. He leapt into action, airbending a mecha tank off of the ground.

"A little help, Kazumi?" Bolin yelled as five Equalists surrounded him. I leapt into the air and landed by his side, airbending a dome around us that expanded, sending the Equalists flying off into the air.

"Uh, Kazumi?" Bolin tapped my shoulder. I turned and saw what he was looking at- an airship, heading straight for Air Temple Island. They were going after my family.

"Dad!" I shouted. When he saw, he called for Oogi at once. I ran at the mecha tank, the last remaining obstacle that prevented us from leaving, and leapt in the air. I pulled my fist back as I approached the glass face shield, punching through it and knocking out the operator. I cut up my hand pretty bad, but it was the only way to get it done quickly, and there were more important things than avoiding a few lousy cuts. Oogi landed nearly and we all hopped on, dad steering us off toward the island.

"Kazumi, your hand..." Bolin said softly.

"It's nothing," I said, pulling it behind my back.

"It's not nothing," Korra said with concern, "let me heal it."

I pulled it out and cautiously held it in front of me. She pulled out some water and began healing it, shards of glass falling as my skin began to heal.

"That was a pretty rash move, that mecha tank could have shot you out of the sky," Asami said. I just looked down with a scowl on my face. Why was everything blowing up in my face recently?

"Can't he fly any faster?" I snapped, standing up.

"Kazumi," Korra said sadly. I took a running start and leapt off of Oogi. I could get there faster by myself. I wasn't just being headstrong, I was right. I got there just in time to save Lin from the mustache man. She had been knocked to the ground, the mustache man standing over her with his electrified weapons.

"Stay away from her!" I shouted, my feet connecting with his face. He went down hard and cold.

"Get off our island!" Jinora chimed, flying out on a glider and blasting the mustache man off the island completely.

"You shouldn't be here, it's dangerous!" Lin shouted, rising to her feet. "Get back inside!"

"No way!" Ikki said, taking out an Equalist.

"Taste my fury!" Meelo said as he fart-bended down on an Equalists face, knocking him out instantly.

"Be careful!" Lin shouted, worried about the little airbender. He sent out three more blasts of air, sending the remaining equalists flying. He had a drip of snot on his nose and was making an awkward slow-motion face whilst doing so.

"Never mind..." she said, not wanting to interfere.

"Let's get these scum tied up," I said, dragging them over to Lin, who used metalbending to restrain them. I took their weapons away and gave them to members of the White Lotus, who had gathered once the fighting was over. "Take these to defend yourselves with. I'm sure more are coming."

Oogi landedd and Tenzin jumped off. "Kazumi! Thank goodness you're alright. Kids, what are you doing out here? I can't believe you let them fight, Lin!"

"I couldn't have stopped them even if I tried. They saved me, Tenzin. You've got some great kids."

"We caught the bad guys," Meelo said, climbing onto dad's head and tugging his ear.

"Go on, your wife is inside," Lin said, back on her feet.

"Pema!" he shouted, running inside. I followed, following the sound of a newborn's cry.

"Tenzin," Pema said warmly, her face softening as he entered.

"I'm here, Pema," he said, nothing but pure love in his eyes. Pema handed the baby over to him.

"Come meet your new brother, Kazumi"

"My brother," I whispered to myself. A smile formed on my face as I ran to ward them, looking down at my new baby brother.

"Hi baby!" Meelo cheered.

"I'm Ikki, this is Jinora, Meelo, and Kazumi. We're your family and we're so happy that you're here!"

"What's his name?" I asked.

"Ooh! Can I pick?" Jinora squealed excitedly.

"We already chose a name," Pema chortled.

"Say hello to your brother, Rohan."

"I'm sorry," Korra said from the doorway, "but more airships are coming."

"What do you want to do, Tenzin?" Korra asked as we headed outside.

"I need to protect my family," he said with a strong, resonating tone. "I'm going to get them as far away as possible. If Amon gets his hands on my children..."

"If you're leaving, then i'm going with you," Lin said determinedly.

"But-"

"No buts. You and your family are the last airbenders. There's no way in the world i'm going to let Amon take your bending away."

"Thank you. Korra, I want you and your friends to leave and go into hiding."

"I'm not giving up!" Korra protested.

"I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to stay safe, to live and fight another day. We can't win this battle now, but with reinforcements, we can."

"So, we need to wait before we strike," she sighed, disappointed, but understanding.

"Tenzin, we need to leave." Lin said urgently.

"Onto Oogi, quick!" he said, hopping onto his sky bison.

"Bye Bolin," I said as he held me tight, not wanting to let go.

"Stay safe," he whispered.

"You too," I gave him one final squeeze before turning to Korra.

"Good luck, Korra," I said and gave her a big hug. She, of course, squeezed me a lot tighter than I squeezed her.

"See you soon," Mako assured me with a determined smile. I nodded, but threw aside formalities and hugged him.

"Bye Kazumi," Asami said, hugging me quickly before I jumped onto Oogi.

"Yip yip!" we took off into the air, flying away from Air Temple Island and its invaders. I hoped the monks would be able to figure out how to use those weapons I gave them.

"Uh, Dad... they're following us," Ikki said, nudging him.

"Did you think they wouldn't notice the sky bison?" I asked sarcastically. Still, I was nervous.

We sped up, but they were hot on our tail. I stood and airbended a tornado, attempting to throw them off our course, but the giant metal ships were too dense. My airbending had no effect. Lin looked down sadly, then stood, a determined look in her eyes.

"Kazumi... I'm sorry," she said softly. My eyes widened as I realized she was going to sacrifice yourself.

"Don't! You can't!"

"Whatever happens, don't turn back!"

"Lin, what are you doing?" Tenzin turned his head just in time to see her take a running leap off of Oogi. I fell to my knees, holding on to the edge of the saddle so tight that my knuckles turned white.

Lin landed safely on the airship's surface, took her stance, and ripped off a large section of the airship's metal skin. There was an explosion and it began to fall into the harbor below. Lin metalbended a panel to catapult herself to the other airship. She was too small to see in detail, now, but I knew what happened as soon as the ship turned around. She had been captured.

"Kazumi, I need you to fly ahead to Commander Iroh's fleet. Fly fast and don't stop for anything."

"Same goes to you," I said solemnly, knowing that they'd just send more airships after them. "I'll see you all soon," I said, hugging the kids. I gave Rohan a kiss on the forehead and hugged Pema goodbye. They were my family. All of them.


	11. Skeletons In The Closet

**Skeletons in the Closet**

I had been flying for hours, flying as fast as I could. Faster than i've ever flown before. I slowed when I spotted a fleet ahead, dropping closer as I approached.

"Hold your fire! She's an ally!" I heard him shout. I swept down and landed on the deck.

"General," I bowed.

"Call me Iroh," he bowed back, "you must be Kazumi."

"Yes. Your grandfather, how is he?"

"He is well. I've heard so much about you. Your father says you're a master."

"Not yet, Iroh. I'm not nearly ready for my arrows, yet."

"Well, now's the time to prove yourself. What news have you brought?"

"Amon is taking over Republic City. He has immense powers, the ability to take away a person's bending permanently. He means to eliminate bending altogether."

"What are his resources?"

"He has a skilled inventor, Hiroshi Sato," I informed, "he's invented weapons for the Equalists. Ones that protect them from bending, using pure metals and electricity."

"Where is Tenzin? Avatar Korra? Chief Beifong?"

"Tenzin is with my family, they left on Oogi to try to run away until it's safe. Avatar Korra is going into hiding until we arrive to help recover the city from Amon. Chief Beifong is..." I looked down sadly.

"I see..." he said, placing his arm around me comfortingly. "Don't worry, my men are strong. We'll win this battle."

"Whenever we make a move, Amon is always a step ahead. I hope you have a plan."

"I was trained by the best," he smiled, "don't worry."

/

"Miss Kazumi, General Iroh has requested your presence on the deck," a soldier called from my doorway. I yawned and climbed out of bed. We must be approaching Republic City. I changed our of the red nightgown the General had lent me and into my airbender clothing. Just as I finished, the boat shook as if it had been hit by an attack. The blow sent me falling to the hard metal floor of the cabin.

"What the-?" I struggled to my feet as the ship shook again. I grabbed my glider and ran outside. "What's going on?!" It was foggy out, but I could see the flames of explosions clearly through the mist. We were under attack.

"Water and earthbenders, detonate those mines!" General Iroh's voice announced over the speaker. So they were attacking from below! My airbending wouldn't be much use in this case, so I focused on finding Iroh. I headed for the control room, but Iroh ran out and into me. "Kazumi, thank goodness!"

"What's the plan?" I asked, out of breath from all the adrenaline.

"Use your airbending to deflect any attacks from those planes!" I turned around to see a new attack force, courtesy of Hiroshi Sato. I popped open my glider and took off into the air. I used the fog as cover, hiding my from view as I gained enough altitude to be out of their line of sight. They weren't the only ones with air power.

The planes dropped torpedoes and bombs, which I did my best to send off course and into the bay. Some of them hit underwater mines, conveniently. Unfortunately, one of the explosions was too great and took out a ship. Iroh's ship.

I dove down as another bomb headed straight for him. Iroh managed to deflect it, but it exploded when it collided with his firebending. "No!" I watched as he flew off of the exploding ship, falling into the water, unconscious. I dove in after him, at the mercy of the restless waters. I swam toward him, my staff making it difficult, but I managed. As I reached him, I something moving toward us, but it wasn't a mine.

"Korra!" I shouted, only to have water fill my lungs. I sputtered awkwardly, trying to recover, as she swam up to me. She took hold of Iroh and pulled him toward the surface for me. I met her at the surface, gasping for air. "You're okay!"

"Let's get out of here," she said, heading towards shore.

"Right," I said as she grabbed my free hand and used her waterbending to get us out of there quickly.

"Kazumi?" Iroh asked as he regained consciousness, "you saved me."

"Well, Korra helped," I grinned, happy to see both of them alive. Korra took us to her hideout where she had been staying. She tended to Iroh's wounds while I reunited with the others.

"Kazumi!" Bolin said, spinning me around.

"What happened to you? You look terrible," Mako said matter-of-factly.

"You're so sweet," I said sarcastically.

"So what happened?"

"We weren't prepared for the aerial attacks," Iroh said, disappointed in himself.

"I know," Korra said as she healed his arm, "Amon always manages to outsmart us."

"We're not out of the fight yet," he said, gaining confidence.

"I like this man's confidence!" Bolin cheered, "So... how are we not out of the fight?"

"A second wave of reinforcements is coming, but I need to warn them. It's too dangerous to send Kazumi out."

"We have a telegraph," Korra suggested. There was a general consensus exchanged in a glance.

"So, who is the recipient of this secret message?" asked Gommu, a quirky homeless man and telegraph operator.

"Commander Bumi, second division of the United Forces," Iroh said.

"Uncle Bumi?" I asked, excited to see my crazy uncle again.

"Yes, he's a bit of a wild card, but the bravest man you'll ever meet."

"Ready for the message, sir," Gommu saluted.

"Fleet ambushed by Equalist aircraft. Retreat to Red Sand Island until further notice," Iroh articulated.

"Now comes the hard part. We have to figure out how to get rid of all of the aircrafts, otherwise Bumi's fleet can't take back the city," I said with the tone of a leader.

Mako pulled out a map and began pointing, "they flew from over here, so the air field must be here..."

"Everyone get some rest. We leave at dawn."

/

"Love you, little bro," he replied lovingly, engulfing him in a hug.

"Love you too, Big Bro," Bolin said with a sniffle.

"Be careful, Hothead," I said, hugging Korra.

"You too, Twinkletoes," she replied warmly. "You and Bolin take good care of each other."

"Don't worry, I won't let anything bad happen to Kazumi," Bolin said, wrapping his arm around me.

"It's not her i'm worried about, Bo," Mako said.

"Don't worry, i'll keep him out of trouble," I assured him. We laughed it out, exchanging hugs in our final goodbye.

"Asami," Mako said softly, stepping away from the group, "whatever happens, I want you to stay safe. Even after what happened, I care about you."

"I care about you, too," she said, kissing him on the cheek before quickly turning away. Bolin hopped on Naga, followed by me, Iroh, and Asami.

"Good luck," I whispered as Mako and Korra left to face Amon. I wrapped my arms around Bolin's waist and squeezed as he took off. As we rode, I thought about all of the things that had happened. The things Korra said. That Bolin said. That Mako said. About Lin. About me.

They were true.

Her last words had confirmed that for me. "Kazumi... I'm sorry."

They had said it all.


	12. Endgame

**Endgame**

Exactly what happened all those years ago, I do not know, and I may never know. Lin is Amon's captive, Tenzin and Pema are who knows where, and i'm headed off to the battle of my life- my last battle, possibly. What I do know, however, is that Lin sacrificed herself for me. For my family. And she will forever be my hero.

"You okay, Kazumi?" Bolin whispered.

"Yeah," I said, holding him tight.

"I think this is it," Bolin said as Naga stopped. I looked up and saw planes flying overhead. In front of us and down a hill was the airfield and warehouse where they kept them.

"Bolin, once we get down there, I need you to tear up those runways. We can't let those aircraft take off." Iroh said as we climbed off Naga.

"Aye aye captain!" Bolin saluted. "Got my back, Kazumi?"

"Always," I grinned, "let's go!"

"You two stay here until we get back," Bolin said, patting Naga, who pouted and lay down.

"Why are there fence posts but no fence?" Asami asked suspiciously.

Suddenly, electricity ran through my body, electrocuting the consciousness out of me.

/

When I woke up, I was tied back to back with Asami. We were in some sort of cell, solid metal surrounding me.

"Bolin?"

"Here," he replied.

"Is everyone okay? Iroh?"

"Yeah, we've just been captured."

"Oh, is that all?" I said sarcastically. "So what did I miss?"

"Well, Asami's dad is crazy, they intercepted our message to Commander Bumi, and we're trapped in here. Oh, and I don't know how to metalbend."

"We don't need a metalbender," I said, letting out a sharp whistle. "We've got Naga."

Right on cue, the polar bear dog appeared, slamming it's great paws down on the iron bars which held us captive.

"Way to go Naga!" Bolin cheered as she destroyed the cell door. Pabu scurried through and began chewing on Bolin's ropes. I was surprised to see Lychee, too.

"Lychee! You're okay!" I grinned happily as he began to work on Asami's and my ropes. I had been worrying about the poor little lemur. With all of the crazy battles happening, I had lost him for a while, but it looks like he found his way back.

"I'm going after those airplanes!" Iroh announced, running after an airplane as it took off. With a running leap and took off into the air. I didn't have my glider, they must have taken it, so I was on my own. I managed to catch the wing of a plane, flipping onto it and grabbing hold of the side bar.

"What the-?" the pilot exclaimed as I jabbed him in the neck, causing him to black out instantly. The plane began to lose control, spiraling down to the ground. Unable to tell what was happening, only that I was moving at a speed so great that my vision blurred, I held on for dear life. The plane seemed to be heading straight for another, which was flying below it. I pushed off and put as much distance between me and the flying machine as possible. I was safe from the explosion, but was free falling. I spotted another explosion in the distance, by grandpa's statue. That must be the plane Iroh took out.

I straightened my body, conducting the air with my fists, like little tornadoes. I propelled myself toward the statue, spotting Iroh clinging to the banner hundreds of feet in the air.

"Iroh! Look at me!" I was flying circles around him, showing off my new trick. "No glider required!" His face lit up as I spun around, in complete control of my movements. I was in perfect balance with the spirits and my own chi. Perfect bliss.

"You're a master, Kazumi!"

"Sure I am," I rolled my eyes. Not this again.

"Look at your arms!" he grinned. I looked down to see that brilliant blue tattoos adorned my skin, in perfect alignment with my chi. They were master airbender tattoos. They were MY master airbender tattoos!

I had been working so hard for this. Grandpa Aang had been a prodigy, mastering the craft at age 12. Dad wasn't quite that good, mastering it when he became a young man. I, however, managed to do it by age 17!

"Awwww yeah!" I cheered, dancing in the wind.

"Kazumi, there's still a war going on," Iroh said, bringing me down from cloud nine.

"You're no fun," I pouted, heading back the way I came. I had to make sure Bolin and Asami were okay.

I spotted three mecha tanks attacking Bolin with cables. Naga was charging at them, gripping the cables with her teeth. I dove down, blasting the tanks off the map.

"Whoa." Bolin blinked in shock. "Thanks, Kazumi."

"Anytime," I said, standing tall from pride of a job well done.

"Whoa, when did you get those?" Bolin gaped, staring at my light blue arrow tattoos.

"When I became a MASTER AIRBENDER!" I squealed, nearly jumping in glee.

"Kazumi, that's great!" He said, giving me a big hug.

"Where's Asami?" I asked.

"She's inside," Bolin said.

"Oh, right. I'd nearly forgotten the gravity of the situation... heh... gravity."

"Come on," Bolin said, pulling me up onto Naga.

"Let's go," I said as Naga ran toward the base. Inside, two mecha tanks were butting heads. Oen of them knocked the other back, smashing the faceplate off to reveal Asami.

"I love you, but I now see there's no way to save you," Hiroshi's voice bellowed as his tank's arm pulled back to strike. Bolin sent a rock at the mecha tank's hand to stop it.

"Mr Sato, you are a horrible father!" Bolin yelled, sending more rocks at him. Asami took the opening and attacked her father. He groaned in pain as Asami forced the opening of the mecha tank. She glared down at him with hatred and for a moment I wondered if she was going to kill him.

"You really are a horrible father," she said, her eyes full of pity and sadness as she electrocuted her only living relative.

/

"Korra!" I cried, running to hug her. She looked just as relieved to see me.

"Kazumi... he... he took my bending..." she said, her voice shaky.

"Amon?" I pulled back. She nodded and I hugged her tighter. "I'm sorry," I said, stroking her hair as she cried.

"You have arrows," Korra noted, pulling my hair back to confirm her suspicions. "You mastered airbending?"

I bit my lip and nodded, trying not to show too much excitement. I didn't want to be insensitive.

"That's great, Kazumi. I can airbend, now, too. Amon couldn't take away an ability I didn't have yet."

"Korra, that's amazing!"

"Amon was about to take away Mako's bending and I didn't have anything to lose, he had already taken away the other elements. Then I just kind of... blew him away."

"I don't believe it, Amon got you too," Lin said, approaching us.

"You're okay!" I cheered, hugging her. She was cold and hard, thanks to her metal armor, but I loved every moment of that hug.

"Yes, i'm okay. I can no longer metalbend, however," she said, hugging me back awkwardly. "Looks like you can still airbend, though, considering you've gotten your arrows. Congratulations."

"Thanks..." I looked up at her expectantly.

"Lin. Call me Lin." she said with a small smile. I grinned up at her, happy with her reply. "I'm glad you're okay, too."

"Thanks. Talk later?" I asked hopefully.

"Yes, you deserve an explanation."

"You too, mister," I said, turning around to point an accusing finger at my dad. He looked surprised that I had noticed his presence. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

The sounds of metal cutting through waves erupted as the dragon ship docked. On top of it stood crazy Uncle Bumi. "Waaaahoooo!" he yelled, being the crazy uncle I know and love. I grinned, excited to see him alive and well, especially since Hiroshi had planned on attacking his fleet.

"Yey, Uncle Bumi's here!" Ikki squealed.

"Great," Tenzin said sarcastically, letting out an exaggerated sigh. "Now i've got to entertain my brother."

"Bumi!" I cheered, running forward to hug him as he jumped off the boat.

"Zumi!" He said, rubbing his fist in my hair. Affectionately, of course. We had always loved that our names rhymed. "You're so big! And- oh my, you're a master already! You beat your dad by two years!"

"Sure did!" I grinned, pulling him toward my friends.

"Everyone, this is my crazy Uncle Bumi. Bumi, this is Killer Korra, Attractive Asami, Boyfriend Bolin, and Mama Mako."

"Killer Korra... I like it," Korra said, crossing her arms.

"Attractive Asami... I'm alright with that." Asami nodded approvingly.

"Boyfriend Bolin at your service, commander!" Bolin waved, happy with his introduction.

"Mama Mako? That doesn't suit me at all!" Mako raved. We all cracked up, filling the air with much-needed laughter.

/

We waited anxiously outside as Katara attempted to heal Korra. The door opened and we all rose to our feet, looking hopefully at Katara as she exited the room.

"I'm sorry, I tried everything, but I can't restore Korra's bending."

"But you're the best healer in the world!" Lin exclaimed persistently.

"There's nothing else I can do, I tried everything in my power. Korra can airbend, but her connection to the other elements has been severed."

We stood in silence, disappointed and disheartened, when Korra came out from the room.

"It's going to be alright, Korra," Tenzin said comfortingly.

"No. It's not." With that, she stormed out. Mako hesitated, but ran after her anyway. I exhaled, collapsing on the couch next to Bolin.

"It's going to be alright, Kazumi," Bolin said, rubbing my back. I glared at him. "Sorry, sorry..."

"What are we going to do? You know how Korra is with her bending. She's lost faith in herself as an Avatar."

"We'll help her regain faith in herself, then."

"How?"

"By reminding her of the person she is, the good that she's done."

"Bolin, you're brilliant," I said, hugging him. I tucked my feet up and leaned on him, relaxing as I recalled all of the good times I've had with Korra. Everything we've accomplished.

When Mako came back, his arm was around Korra, who looked better than she had before. She looked hopeful, like Mako had helped her somehow.

"Aang said I can get my bending back. He said you could help," she said, turning to Katara. "He said something about crossroads."

I turned to Katara, who had a confused look on her face, but it resolved as she came to a realization. "Of course..."

"But first," she turned to Lin, "I'm going to restore your bending."

"But how?" Lin gasped.

"The same way Amon took it away," she said, determinedly.

"We should do it at the spiritual nexus of the south pole. This way," Katara said, leading us. We gathered around them, at a safe distance, as Lin kneeled before Korra. She placed her hand on Lin's forehead, the same way Amon did to take away bending. Korra's eyes lit up, alerting us that she was in the Avatar State. A surge of energy emitted from Lin, her hair flying as her bending was restore. Korra's eyes returned to normal and Lin slowly stood. She raised her arms and the boulders that surrounded us lifted into the air. Lin could earthbend.

/

"So what's next for us? The city is probably in the midst of chaos," I posed the question, open to suggestions. We had lots to do, but in what order?

"We go back to the city, of course, so I can return bending to everyone," Korra said.

"First we have to free them from captivity," Mako said.

"And we can't do that until we've rounded up the Equalists," Asami added.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us," Tenzin said, "we'd better get started.

"But not before a good night's rest and a hot meal!" Pema intercepted.

"I'm with Pema, i'm starving!" Bolin agreed.

"And cold!" I shivered in my airbender clothes.

"You should have worn your cloak!" Tenzin nagged.

"I couldn't find it!" I argued.

"That's not my fault," Tenzin said, "you should have been more responsible."

"Well sorry if I was too busy fighting Amon and his Equalist army to remember where I placed my cloak!"

"Will you two cut it out? You're giving me a headache," Korra said, rubbing her temples as she left the room, heading for dinner.

"You two never fight like this, what's wrong?" Pema asked as we walked.

"She knows, Pema," Tenzin sighed.

"She... knows?" Pema said slowly, making sure it was what she was thinking.

"How could you not tell me?" I burst, surprising even myself. I was afraid of losing her again. Instead, I was losing control of myself.

"Kazumi," she said softly, almost pleadingly. "We were waiting for the right time-"

"17 years and not a single moment seemed right? 17 years and every moment of it was a lie!"

"It wasn't a lie, we just-"

"Didn't tell me the truth? Isn't that the same thing? You always told us to tell the truth, and look at you now." I seethed, turning from Pema to Tenzin "And you, all high and mighty. You left Lin while she was pregnant with your daughter- and you call yourself a father?"

"Kazumi," he whispered, heartbroken.

"Don't blame them, they were only respecting my wishes," Lin said, joining in.

"Your wishes? What about my wishes?" I was yelling now. I took a breath, my voice low. "I don't want anything to do with any of you," fists clenched, I turned to the frozen landscape for solace, my feet refusing to stop moving until I could no longer feel them.

I had been here before, the place I had overlooked the ocean. It was a calm place where I could breathe alone. The cold air was brutal before, but now it was my blanket. I exhaled, trying to remember my airbending training and relax. What good it will do now, I don't know. A master! How could I be a master? I haven't mastered all 36 tiers of airbending, I hadn't even hit 35 tiers. It must have been the new move- father said something about creating a move bumping you up to master level.

Father.

Just when I thought I had escaped that topic, it crept back in. What was I to do, with a mother who abandoned me, a father who abandoned her, and a woman who's allowed me to live a lie my whole life?

Maybe i'm being too harsh. They meant well, they care about me, they have explanations.

No.

This was far beyond a simple apology. This was the highest tier of betrayal.

"Kazumi," a soft voice called from behind me. I hadn't even noticed her approach.

"Beifong," I replied curtly.

"Please, just let me explain. I owe you that."

"Very well," I said, crossing my arms defensively.

"It was before Tenzin left me for Pema that I became pregnant with you. He didn't know when he left, I hadn't told him yet."

"Did you love him?" I asked, tensing with anticipation.

"Yes, very much."

"And me?"

"Of course I love you," she said, almost sounding hurt, "you're my daughter."

"Then why did you give me up?"

"I didn't give you up, I gave you your best shot," she moved closer to me, her voice growing softer. "I'm not exactly fit to be a mother. I knew that Tenzin and Pema would be better fit to raise you than I would be."

"But why didn't you come to see me?"

"It hurt too much, seeing you, knowing I couldn't have you. You were a reminder of what could have been, Kazumi."

"Is that why he tried to keep me out of the city? And why you looked at me like that when we first met?"

"Yes. Tenzin did his best to respect my wishes. Pema accepted you as her own more than I could have hoped."

I looked down, trying to let all of this soak in.

"I wasn't ready to be a mother. Not on my own. Don't blame them, Kazumi."

"I don't blame them... I blame you." She seemed a bit taken aback at my blunt words. I wasn't trying to be cold, I was trying to be honest. "But.. I forgive you," I said, turning to meet her eyes. She began to tear up and engulfed me in a hug.

"I'm so proud of you. You've grown up into a fine young woman. I'll make it up to you, Kazumi. I'll be there for you whenever you need me."

"I know you will," I smiled, returning her embrace. "Come on, I think Pema's serving dinner."

"You don't call her mom?" she asked.

"It never felt like it fit her," I shrugged, "I guess now I know why."

We walked inside to find everyone sitting around the table, staring up at us. Most, if not all, at least had suspicions and were curious as to how our talk went.

"Everything alright?" Tenzin asked worriedly.

"Everything is, now," Lin said, sitting down next to me. I smiled warmly as Tenzin looked at me.

"Good, let's eat!" Bolin exclaimed, ready to dig in. We laughed it off and began dinner.

Dinner was kept at a lighter happier level, even with everything that happened. We chatted about travels and children, especially little Rohan, who was passed around the table quite a bit. Everyone congratulated me on my new tattoos and status as a master airbender. Dad was particularly proud, and succeeded in bringing it up multiple times in conversation, especially when he caught Bumi trying to flirt with Lin.

For once, everything was perfect.


End file.
